Ibrahimovic under FIFA and UEFA investigation

[tyz]

Problem is there are rules from Fifa and Uefa that do not allow players participating in their competitions to have financial interests in gambòing companies; it's not a matter of business decisions players can invest in whatever they want except gambling sector.

Yes, both associations have this rule. The strange thing now is that I don't know any of the top football clubs that don't have at least one betting provider as a sponsor. In England it is even very extreme, there are several clubs in the same league that have the same main sponsor, a betting provider of course. There are immense conflicts of interest.

[1714863961]

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[Becky666]

This definitely won't be a good ending for Zlatan if found guilty. At 39 and winding off, he needs a soft ground to allow him go into other aspect of football after retirement like coaching as it is now the routine for retired players. Well as of now it is still an allegation until FIFA and UEFA makes their finding known.

It's more disheartening to hear this news sincerely becasue he's at the end of his career and this came to him with this unfortunate. The authorities should be mindful of what should become the end of this professional if find guilty, i would suggest that they file him some simple ground that won't be dangerous to his retirement. The FIFA most especially should consider this guy to reduce his penalty.

[mindrust]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic risks being fined or even banned by FIFA and UEFA as it emerges his joint-stock company owns 10% of a betting agency.

According to FIFA and UEFA rules, it is prohibited for players to have financial interest in betting companies.

Makes sense. A professional player like him should be more careful about his investments. If players were allowed to own stakes at casinos then that would affect the games and players would lose on purpose. $100 million is a big amount though. I wonder if he has that kind of cash around...

[leea-1334]

I really feel bad about Zlatan. He is a good player indeed but being a good player isn’t enough. He is I guess to be one of the greatest players in Football but never in business and legalities. I don’t know why he didn’t just choose the usual path the players are taking. Owning stocks from different companies in a different name. In this way, it’s not just he can hide his name to secure his career, he can also reduce his taxes.

I still do not think less of Zlatan. I mean, come on, everyone is a human even these footballers. Messi and Ronaldo are always giving to charity but both have been guilty of tax evasion and have paid fines. I think there are many cases of footballers betting on themselves (even though it means they do not throw away games but it is still wrong). Or players who tell family members they are playing or not and those go out to place bets. Happens all the time.

[Joca97]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

[mindrust]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

[milewilda]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

We dont know on what are their basis but fines shouldnt be something that these athletes would really be having a hard time on paying up those or would really be an eye opener
who those who tend to do the same thing or still yet unknown to the public if they are been part or have some shares on a betting company.We dont know on how they do get those
numbers but it is just right to imply those so that others would be aware and wouldnt do the same thing.This could really hurt, imagine on paying up a fine of
100m isnt something that you can easily deal off.This might even hurt or affect his career.

[uneng]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

We dont know on what are their basis but fines shouldnt be something that these athletes would really be having a hard time on paying up those or would really be an eye opener
who those who tend to do the same thing or still yet unknown to the public if they are been part or have some shares on a betting company.We dont know on how they do get those
numbers but it is just right to imply those so that others would be aware and wouldnt do the same thing.This could really hurt, imagine on paying up a fine of
100m isnt something that you can easily deal off.This might even hurt or affect his career.

Even for a professional demanded player (7,2 million of dollars by playing a season for the Los Angeles Galaxy, US soccer team) who is sponsored by big brands, a fine of 100 million of dollars will hurt the finances for sure. These authorities must be really mad on him, and maybe being a gambling site's shareholder isn't the only issue, or might he been warned before by FIFA/UEFA and just ignored the warning?
Probably if he was a lower class soccer player the punishment would be softer.

[FatFork]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic risks being fined or even banned by FIFA and UEFA as it emerges his joint-stock company owns 10% of a betting agency.

According to FIFA and UEFA rules, it is prohibited for players to have financial interest in betting companies.

Makes sense. A professional player like him should be more careful about his investments. If players were allowed to own stakes at casinos then that would affect the games and players would lose on purpose. $100 million is a big amount though. I wonder if he has that kind of cash around...

I think several people have already noticed that the penalty is not 100 million Euros, but 100 thousand Euros. A drop in the bucket for Ibrahimovic.

In any case, if Ibra were found guilty, he might be in deep trouble... because a three-year suspension from FIFA, during which he would be suspended from all football activities, would hurt him much more.

[Joca97]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

They can make an example out of him.But 100 milion dollars isnt a small thing.Thats just insane.If it was 100k to 1m it would be okay but this is just insane for real.Also to ban him from sports is even more stupid,he didnt fix any of the games just a shareholder

[Silberman]

100 million euros for conflict interest....that's steep. He's also at the end of his career so that will hurt even more if the accusation is proven. This is probably another case of a professional athlete receiving a bad financial advice.

He should probably cooperate with UEFA and FIFA for a possibility of lighter charges.

Bethard's CEO Erik Skarp has confirmed Sportbladet that the striker still owns stokes in Bethard's sole shareholder Gameday Group PLC.

He may have got bad financial advice but surely it wouldnt  take massive intelligence
to figure out that it was a conflict of interests getting involved with Bethard,
He should have either retired early or continued playing and retired later and
then move to gambling.

Personally I was never fond of him as a player, a very cynical, bad tempered,
bad mannered player with an attitude of superiority and a player which embodies
everything I hate about Soccer, so in my opinion I have little sympathy for him.

While obviously we do not really know him but he gives me the impression that even if he received the right financial advise he thought he could get away with it and decided to invest and be invested in a casino anyway, even if there was not any wrongdoing this still looks bad and he should have known that he was going to eventually get caught and yet he still decided to do it, so I think this is a very clear case and he is going to lose a lot of money just by being that stubborn.

[Sithara007]

I think several people have already noticed that the penalty is not 100 million Euros, but 100 thousand Euros. A drop in the bucket for Ibrahimovic.

In any case, if Ibra were found guilty, he might be in deep trouble... because a three-year suspension from FIFA, during which he would be suspended from all football activities, would hurt him much more.

Going by the pace of the investigation, I don't think that any punishment will be handed out this year. Personally I feel that a 3-year suspension will be disproportional. But even if they decide to hand out such a punishment, then I don't expect it before 2022 or even 2023. And by that time Ibrahimovic will be 40 or 41 and happily retired from the game. I am saying this after looking at the investigation process during 2018-2021.

[mindrust]

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

They can make an example out of him.But 100 milion dollars isnt a small thing.Thats just insane.If it was 100k to 1m it would be okay but this is just insane for real.Also to ban him from sports is even more stupid,he didnt fix any of the games just a shareholder

Well, somebody says above you that 100 million penalty wasn't actually real.

I think several people have already noticed that the penalty is not 100 million Euros, but 100 thousand Euros. A drop in the bucket for Ibrahimovic.

In any case, if Ibra were found guilty, he might be in deep trouble... because a three-year suspension from FIFA, during which he would be suspended from all football activities, would hurt him much more.

The actual number is only a 100k Euros. So, just like you said, it is nothing for him. He can pay that kind of money easily. Hopefully, he will sell his shares on that company also.

[Woodie]

If FIFA or UEFA find Zlatan guilty in all this, this will be forced retirement for him no two ways about it because his already at the end of his career and waiting another 3year's is not on his wishlist.

And from a layman's point of view I think for all this to go away and for him to retire in dignity I think he has to retire himself without bring the conflict of interest forward.

I still dont understand why such big fine for him. He isnt betting just owns a part of a betting company and not making any calls
And to be 100m thats just outrages i dont know where they get those prices

The fine is very big because they want to make an example of him. If anybody ever tries anything close to what he did ever again, now everybody knows what kind of penalty to be expected, -it will be many million dollars. He isn't betting himself maybe but he is making money of a bet company this is pretty much the same thing, actually it is worse.

They can make an example out of him.But 100 milion dollars isnt a small thing.Thats just insane.If it was 100k to 1m it would be okay but this is just insane for real.Also to ban him from sports is even more stupid,he didnt fix any of the games just a shareholder

Well, somebody says above you that 100 million penalty wasn't actually real.

I think several people have already noticed that the penalty is not 100 million Euros, but 100 thousand Euros. A drop in the bucket for Ibrahimovic.

In any case, if Ibra were found guilty, he might be in deep trouble... because a three-year suspension from FIFA, during which he would be suspended from all football activities, would hurt him much more.

The actual number is only a 100k Euros. So, just like you said, it is nothing for him. He can pay that kind of money easily. Hopefully, he will sell his shares on that company also.

If that is 100K euros then any would be offenders won't learn because they can easily pay that up but then again how different is it with gambling companies bring sponsors of some of these big clubs??

[mindrust]

If that is 100K euros then any would be offenders won't learn because they can easily pay that up but then again how different is it with gambling companies bring sponsors of some of these big clubs??

I believe that it is 100k because this is his offense for the first time. If he doesn't sell his shares after a time, then they will probably punish him again and also increase the fine. This is how law punishment usually works. First one is usually a warning or a low fine, if you keep violating the law, the punishment gets heavier.

[nelson4lov]

I think several people have already noticed that the penalty is not 100 million Euros, but 100 thousand Euros. A drop in the bucket for Ibrahimovic.

In any case, if Ibra were found guilty, he might be in deep trouble... because a three-year suspension from FIFA, during which he would be suspended from all football activities, would hurt him much more.

If the fine is set at 100,000 euros, I'd say it's considerable compared to the rumored 100M Euros earlier rumored to be the fine. I knew that amount would've been very heavy for him to pay and it would be unfair given the offense. Ibra still has at least 3 more years of football to play and should try to avoid getting hit with a ban that would span across two years as that would signify the end of his football crying. It would be very bad for a player of such caliber to end such a long and successful playing career on a bad note. It doesn't sound pleasing to the ears, one bit.

[lixer]

If it is 100k that means it is really seriously nothing for him. I thought it was something more serious and I imagined it would be not 100 million, but not as low as 100k neither, maybe like 10 million or at least 1 million or somewhere in between.

Giving him a 100k fine is like giving me a 10$ fine, if I am profiting thousands of dollars from something, I won't care paying a ten dollars fine for it, even if I am making hundreds of dollars profit, I would still pay it. That is why I think if this 100k news is true, then this becomes not even a news, it is boring and he will definitely just pay it and move on with his life, he could still play another season if he wants to and at the top level as well, as long as he is healthy he could do that, I don't know if a season more after that works, but it will depend on his health, as long as he is healthy he can maybe do even 2 seasons.

[mindrust]

If it is 100k that means it is really seriously nothing for him. I thought it was something more serious and I imagined it would be not 100 million, but not as low as 100k neither, maybe like 10 million or at least 1 million or somewhere in between.

Giving him a 100k fine is like giving me a 10$ fine, if I am profiting thousands of dollars from something, I won't care paying a ten dollars fine for it, even if I am making hundreds of dollars profit, I would still pay it. That is why I think if this 100k news is true, then this becomes not even a news, it is boring and he will definitely just pay it and move on with his life, he could still play another season if he wants to and at the top level as well, as long as he is healthy he could do that, I don't know if a season more after that works, but it will depend on his health, as long as he is healthy he can maybe do even 2 seasons.

Read what I wrote above. That 100k is probably just a warning. They'll probably increase the fine if he still keeps his shares. First fine 100k, second fine 500k, third fine 1 million etc... There is no way he can pay the fine and keep his shares.

The fine is not about ruining the person completely if that's his offense for the first time but it can ruin him next time him if he doesn't comply.

[germsite]

Huh, so I looked around turns out the same issue was in talks already way back in 2018? Though I think it's a different case this time since the one back then was him taking the ambassadorial role for Bethard, and now this which is ownership(part) of the betting company. This might actually be closer to a ban if this is his 2nd strike of being related to gambling/betting. After all, having issues with almost the same reason with three same companies seems like a warrant for them to properly impose their punishment, lest they be seen as lenient or something.

The 2018 one: https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/03/21/zlatan-ibrahimovic-could-be-sanctioned-fa-after-involvement-new-betting-company

You are right. This is the same issue that surfaced in 2018.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9470841/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic-facing-three-year-ban-investment-betting-company-say-Swedish-reports.html

The report also details that the Swedish Football Association have been aware of the problem for three years and it is the reason the talismanic forward wasn't called up for the 2018 World Cup, though he did retire from international football in 2016 until returning last month.

Why do they take so much time to reach a decision? But it is not like Ibrahimovic hid his involvement with Bethard. He was quite vocal about his involvement with that company and was even announced as their brand ambassador back in 2018. 

The likelihood he will get suspended is relatively small. His lawyers definitely checked the situation beforehand and even a Swedish soccer official said the rules are unclear, implying that they had a thorough look at them in advance.

You never know. They could also decide to make an example of him. It will be hard for them to do so though as there is a lot of corruption in soccer anyway and most of them get away with smooth penalties. Wercking Ibrahimovic now for something that is known for years doesn't make all too much sense and would have negative repercussions in public. Let's see how they decide to go about it.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

If FIFA or UEFA find Zlatan guilty in all this, this will be forced retirement for him no two ways about it because his already at the end of his career and waiting another 3year's is not on his wishlist.

I would be very sad if Zlatan ends his career like that. His career won't last too long without restrictions from FIFA or UEFA but I would be happy if he retires as a legendary player and no drama or punishments. He deserves so and I am not fan of Zlatan but indeed he is one of greatest players in the era of Messi and Ronaldo. Behind Messi and Ronaldo, who are the best players?

I think Zlatan is the third best player in football in the past two decades. He scores more than 500 goals in his career. Zlatan's Career statistics