Wages and transfer ban: where did Ticketmaster’s R$8m São Paulo advance go? | OneFootball

Last Friday (2), hours before the derby against Santos in the Brazilian Championship, São Paulo’s board used R$ 8 million to pay down outstanding financial obligations and overdue image rights payments owed to the first-team squad. The money came from an advance on part of the recently signed contract with Ticketmaster.

Morumbi’s new concessionaire and ticketing partner formalized the agreement that same Friday. The contract set a deadline of up to five business days for the deposit of R$ 30 million for the acquisition of the Camarote 29A hospitality suite space for a five-year period.

Faced with the need to immediately settle outstanding employment-related payments to the players, along with other financial obligations, São Paulo’s leadership negotiated an advance on a portion of the total. With the R$ 8 million transferred early, the club is still due to receive the remaining R$ 22 million for the commercial space.

The club’s internal projection is that the remaining R$ 22 million will be enough to finally clear its current debts to the players and cover payroll through the end of the season.

Now the focus is on lifting the transfer ban

In addition to the payment for the hospitality suite, the contractual arrangement with Ticketmaster provides for a further financial injection of R$ 110 million, split into three installments to be paid within 45 days. São Paulo’s management is working behind the scenes to secure the early release of the main installment in this deal.

Securing the funds sooner is seen as a priority to ease the club’s cash flow and enable payments needed to resolve sanctions affecting its operations, particularly the transfer ban imposed by FIFA. The sanction stems from a debt of US$ 350,000 (around R$ 1.75 million at the day’s exchange rate) relating to commissions on the signing of midfielder Giuliano Galoppo.

Although the player is currently represented by the Team Raiola agency, the outstanding legal matter concerns the intermediary who handled negotiations at the time of his transfer, Leandro Escudero. Although the Brazilian football transfer window is closed — and is not scheduled to reopen until January 2027 — São Paulo’s board is seeking to settle the debt immediately with football’s world governing body to avoid the risk of more severe disciplinary sanctions.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.