Real estate agency Tribe Association of Michel Maus and Karl Dhont had to defend itself on Tuesday afternoon before the disciplinary council of the football association. In concrete terms, the clearing department of the RBFA has discovered irregularities in the transfer of Ben Hamed Yassin (20) from Lille to Antwerp in the summer of 2021. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is demanding strict penalties.
It is tax expert Michel Maus and match fixing expert Karl Dhont, at that time still head of UEFA’s anti-corruption cell, who, after Operation Clean Hands in our country, set themselves up as pioneers to make our football cleaner. At the end of 2019, the Pro League appoints them as independent experts in a panel that must make proposals about what can be improved in Belgian football after the financial scandals. Among other things, the role of brokers is being investigated by the experts.
When the duo Maus-Dhont set up real estate agency Tribe Association in the spring of 2020, it raised eyebrows here and there. However, Maus continues to position himself as a pioneer for a purer football world. For example, he will be in the broadcast of De Afspraak in December 2021, just after the public confession of real estate agent and regret-optant Dejan Veljkovic. “It was confronting to see with what ease people set up certain structures and people actually start to regard this as normal. Of course there are still many brokers and I don’t dare put my hand in the fire for everyone in that sector,” said Maus at the time.
Sensitive matter
It only makes this case more sensitive and striking. The clearing department of the football association will be set up in the summer of 2020 to check all transfers in Belgian football. Since then only clubs have been prosecuted. It is therefore all the more remarkable that Dhont and Maus – who have since retired as brokers – are the first intermediaries to appear on the radar of the supervisory body.
In concrete terms, the clearing department encountered irregularities in the transfer of 20-year-old Ben Hamed Yassin from Lille to Antwerp in the summer of 2021. Tribe Association of Maus and Dhont was involved, as was the Monaco-based brokerage firm VV Consulting of Vadim Vasilyev . According to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, these are two different infringements by Tribe and one by VV Consulting.
For the sake of clarity, Antwerp player Ben Hamed Yassine (r.) cannot be blamed. — © GOYVAERTS/GMAX AGENCY
Tribe is firstly accused that it acted for both player Yassine and for club Antwerp during that transfer, which means that there is a conflict of interest. For this, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is demanding an effective fine of 35,000 euros and a suspension from Tribe until full payment is in order. Secondly, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office rules that there is a false scouting agreement about Yassine between Tribe and VV Consulting. There is an invoice of 95,000 that Tribe must pay in installments to VV Consulting, but according to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, there is no question of a scouting report. There, too, an effective fine of 31,666.66 euros is claimed for both Tribe and VV Consulting and a suspension of both offices until full payment is in order. The defense of VV Consulting disputes that it is a false scouting agreement.
Federal prosecutor Jan Keulen gave reasons for the claims, among other things, about “a lack of insight into guilt, concealment of reality, serious infringements and multiple violations”. Waiting to see what the disciplinary council will decide. If the parties involved do not agree, they can still appeal to the BAS. To be clear: football club Antwerp is not to blame in this file until further notice according to any party, nor is player Ben Hamed Yassine.
2023-06-28 01:00:00
#football #purer #prosecuted #infringements #transfer #Antwerp #player
