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FIFA Ordered 13 Clubs to Pay Russian Teams Despite Sanctions, Investigation Finds
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FIFA has repeatedly ordered European football clubs to pay outstanding transfer fees to Russian teams despite sanctions and blocked bank transfers, according to Follow the Money on December 5.
The outlet reported that since early 2022 the FIFA Football Tribunal has handled 13 disputes in which clubs cited sanctions linked to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as the reason for halting payments.
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Eight cases involved European clubs in arrears to Russian sides and five concerned Russian teams that owed money to European counterparts.
One of the main cases highlighted by the investigation concerns West Ham United, which was ordered by FIFA on March 31, 2023, to pay the remaining part of approximately $28 million of the transfer fee to sanctioned club CSKA Moscow for Croatian forward Nikola Vlasic, or risk an 18-month transfer ban.
The report said West Ham argued that its contractual obligation had become impossible to perform because CSKA, its owner, its managing director, the club’s banks and all of the English club’s own banking routes were listed under British, EU and US sanctions, and defended itself on the basis of force majeure.
According to documents cited by Follow the Money, FIFA rejected that argument, insisting that “a contract is a contract and must be honoured,” but the Court of Arbitration for Sport later overturned the ruling in May 2025, finding it was “objectively impossible to make payment of the second instalment” and giving the English club what the outlet described as the first legal “slap on the wrist” for FIFA over its handling of Russia-related cases.
The report said that clubs PSV Eindhoven and Norwich City had payments to non-sanctioned Russian clubs Spartak Moscow and FK Rostov blocked by their banks, with PSV informing Spartak that its lenders would no longer process transfers “to and from Russia” and that a German bank had refused to move a remaining about $2.7 million instalment.
In several instances, European teams placed the disputed sums with their national football associations after being unable to complete transfers, a practice that previous Follow the Money investigations found had occurred at the instruction of UEFA and that could itself carry sanctions risks if the money is effectively being held for Russian beneficiaries until restrictions are lifted.
According to Follow the Money, two clubs are known to have escaped sporting penalties so far: Sweden’s Djurgardens, which persuaded FIFA’s disciplinary bodies that EU and national law made payment to Zenit St. Petersburg legally impossible, and West Ham through its successful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Earlier, it was reported that FIFA President Gianni Infantino told a UEFA congress he hoped Russian clubs and national teams could be reintegrated into international football once peace is restored in Ukraine, presenting their return as a sign that the conflict has been resolved.
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-9220540186162ee79463169b5478a8d5.jpg "Soldiers of Ukraine’s 40th Coastal Defense Brigade prepare a SHARK UAV for a mission in Kherson region, January 2025. (Source: Getty Images)")
