Thanks to the FinCEN files, we know the Chelsea owner had ‘economic rights’ in other clubs’ players, but the transfer business remains mostly opaque and out of reach
It is only due to the “FinCEN Files,” a huge leak of confidential information, that the world knows a sliver more about the predilection Roman Abramovich apparently had for buying “economic rights” in players at clubs other than his own. This nugget has been sifted from more than 2,000 suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed with the US government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), that would have remained unknown but for the reporting on the leak by the BBC and other media organisations.
Yet as these episodes always do, by providing a one-off glimpse into vast secretive dealings this leak also delivers a jolting reminder of how much remains unknown, about the multibillion-pound business of human football talent.
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