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Hello, Hi Visionaries!

The first issue for 2026!

Right, let's talk about multi-club ownership structures that actually work. Not the flashy City Football Group headlines, but the nuts and bolts of building a talent pipeline from Latin America and Africa into Europe without accidentally violating about FIFA regulations.

Here's what nobody tells you about MCOs: the sexy part isn't buying clubs, it's building the compliance architecture that keeps you in business ;).

We're at an inflection point. Latin America and Africa have always been talent goldmines, but the regulatory environment around player movement has tightened considerably. The days of murky third-party ownership arrangements are (mostly) dead. UEFA's multi-club ownership rules have actual teeth now. And EU anti-money laundering directives are treating football clubs like the financial institutions they've become.

Historical context: Remember when third-party ownership was the Wild West? Between 2001 and 2015, players like Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano moved through elaborate TPO arrangements that would make a corporate tax lawyer weep. FIFA finally banned it in 2015 (Article 18ter of the RSTP), but the appetite for talent arbitrage didn't disappear. It just needed better governance.

Before you even think about acquiring your first club, these constraints need to be tattooed on your brain:

1. Third-Party Ownership is Dead (and Should Stay That Way)

You cannot—and I mean cannot—structure any deal where an investor takes a slice of a player's future transfer fee. FIFA's RSTP Article 18ter killed this off, and frankly, good riddance. It was exploitation dressed up as innovation.

2. UEFA Multi-Club Ownership Rules Have Bite

If two clubs under your ownership umbrella could both qualify for UEFA competitions, you need to prove there's no "decisive influence" between them. Crystal Palace learned this the hard way in summer 2025 when they were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League over multi-club ownership violations. That's not a compliance footnote—that's a revenue disaster.

3. AML Compliance Isn't Optional Anymore

The EU's 2024 anti-money laundering package treats football with the same scrutiny as banks. Beneficial ownership transparency, source of funds documentation, customer due diligence—it's all mandatory. Plan it as a feature from day one, not something you retrofit when the regulators come knocking.

If you're building a Latin America/Africa → Europe pipeline, Belgium is your Swiss Army knife.

Why Belgium makes sense:

Runner-up: Portugal. Porto, Benfica, and Sporting have been running this playbook for decades with Brazilian and African talent. The liga has credibility, decent European exposure, and a proven talent-to-transfer pipeline.

Avoid (at first): Spain. La Liga's strict non-EU matchday limits will strangle your African intake before it starts. Real Madrid can navigate this; your development club probably can't.

Here's where governance becomes your competitive advantage.

TopCo (HoldCo) — Your investor vehicle

Domiciled in the EU for banking and investor comfort. This entity owns everything and sets group governance policy.

Cost: €2,000–€5,000 for a Belgian BV/SRL incorporation. Add another €15,000–€50,000 for proper legal structuring (shareholders' agreements, governance docs, UEFA compliance architecture).

EU ClubCo (Belgian SPV) — Your showcase window

Holds the club licence, employs staff, registers players. This is where talent proves itself worthy of the next step up.

Operational requirements: Monthly management accounts, wage cap monitoring, transfer approval matrices, and UEFA club licensing compliance. Belgium's football licensing has aligned with UEFA's financial sustainability regulations, so you're building to European standards from day one.

Latin America ClubCo (SPV) — Your talent factory (Option A)

Brazilian, Argentine, or Colombian club with academy infrastructure, stable registration processes, and professional governance.

Africa ClubCo (SPV) — Your talent factory (Option B)

West or East African club with academy infrastructure and federation environment that supports professional operations.

Why two feeder clubs? Diversification. You're not betting on one continent's political stability, one federation's administrative competence, or one talent market's pricing dynamics.

AcademyCo — Runs your coaching curriculum, education programmes, accommodation, and welfare across both feeder clubs.

This is where you industrialise talent development. Standard coaching methodology, sports science protocols, language education, cultural integration prep. All delivered consistently whether a player is in São Paulo or Lagos.

Arm's-length pricing essential: UEFA scrutinises intra-group transactions. If AcademyCo charges €500k for services worth €100k, you've just created a related-party transaction problem.

ServicesCo — Your scouting network, data analytics, medical standards, and performance benchmarking

This creates operational leverage without creating "decisive influence" that violates UEFA integrity rules.

The decisive influence trap: If the same people effectively run sporting decisions at multiple clubs, UEFA will come for you. ServicesCo can set standards and provide tools, but each club must retain independent sporting decision making. Document this obsessively.

In summer 2025, Crystal Palace got relegated from the Europa League to the Conference League because of multi-club ownership violations with Lyon. Both clubs qualified for UEFA competitions under the same ownership structure, and UEFA's integrity rules kicked in.

The lesson: Don't wait until March to discover you have two clubs qualifying. Build the governance separation from day one. Separate boards, documented decision making independence, restricted information sharing, conflict committees with teeth.

Some groups use blind trust arrangements. Others maintain ownership below control thresholds with contractual governance restrictions. Get specialist legal advice before you need it.

Player pipeline models have an ugly history. Your governance framework needs to prove you're running a development pathway, not a 21st-century version of colonial exploitation.

Non-negotiables:

Documentation is your defence: When UEFA, FIFA, or a federation audits you, your paper trail needs to show legitimate talent development, not financial engineering masquerading as football.

Belgium BV incorporation: €2,000–€5,000

Proper legal structuring: €15,000–€50,000

Annual accounts filing: Set NBB tariffs (penalties for late filing are real)

But here's what kills most pipeline MCOs—operational overhead:

Each club needs:

In Latin America and Africa, add:

Year 1: Foundation

Acquire your Latin American anchor club (Brazil/Argentina preferred for infrastructure)

Partner or acquire African club with academy potential

Build governance framework and compliance architecture

Year 2: Validation

Acquire Belgian club

Prove the pipeline with 3–5 successful talent transitions

Build institutional credibility with regulators and banks

Year 3: Scale

Add second European club only after UEFA compliance architecture is bulletproof

Expand feeder network selectively (quality over quantity)

If you're in this space whether as an investor, operator, or advisor. Having an expertise in governance is your unfair advantage.

The groups that win won't be the ones with the deepest pockets. They'll be the ones with:

Start with Belgium - for your European gateway proven pathway, realistic work permits, no hard foreign player caps

Build dual-continent feeder networks - (Latin America + Africa) for talent and risk diversification

Design UEFA compliance into your structure from day one - fixing it later is expensive and sometimes impossible

Budget for operational substance, not just acquisition costs - academies need educators, not just coaches

Document everything obsessively - your paper trail is your first line of defence against regulatory scrutiny

If you're building this infrastructure correctly? You're not just creating a talent pipeline. You're building board-level expertise in sports governance, regulatory compliance, and commercial structuring. The exact skill set the industry desperately needs as MCOs become the dominant ownership model.

Want to discuss governance frameworks for your MCO project? The complexity is the opportunity.

This analysis draws on FIFA RSTP regulations, UEFA multi-club ownership frameworks, EU AML directives, and recent enforcement actions. Regulatory landscapes evolve—always engage specialist legal counsel for your specific structure.

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not financial or business advice in any capacity. The information shared is our thoughts & opinions and does not represent the opinions of any other person, business, entity, or sponsor. The contents of this newsletter also should not be used in any public or private domain without the authors express permission.