FC Twente banned from Europe for licence breaches
Twente have been punished for deliberately misleading the KNVB about funding and financing from a third party, the Maltese based Doyen Sports Investments Group.
In 2011 despite having an overdue tax payment of £6m the SFA licensed Rangers (IL) to play in the qualifiers for the Champions League where they lost to Malmo.
A group of Celtic shareholders have raised the matter with the SFA but have yet to be given an explanation. Football administration expert Andrew Dickson submitted the licence application despite the tax demand (from the wee tax case) being overdue on June 30. While ignoring the tax demand Ally McCoist went on a spending spree as well as awarding new contracts to Steve Davis, Steven Whittaker and Allan McGregor.
Wary of UEFA and FIFA’s view on third party ownership the KNVB have blocked Twente’s prospects of playing in European competitions and hit the club with a fine of 45,000 euros. More importantly their current licence could be revoked if they fail to fully co-operate with the probe into the role of Doyen Sports Investment.
The KNVB said the punishment follows Twente’s failure to reveal full details of a third-party ownership contract with Malta-based Doyen Sports Investments.
FIFA has banned third-party ownership as a threat to the game’s integrity because investors force transfers to make a profit.
The Football Leaks website last month published a contract between Twente and Doyen in which Doyen agreed to pay Twente 5 million euros for between 10 and 50 percent of the transfer fee rights for seven players. The deal was signed in 2014, before FIFA outlawed third-party ownership.
The KNVB said the sanctions were imposed by its licensing committee. The association also is sending Twente’s dealings with Doyen Sports to the KNVB prosecutor and to FIFA.