The Carlos T?vez affair took another twist last night when an arrest order was issued for the businessman in charge of the West Ham United striker’s affairs just hours before it was announced that he was close to joining Manchester United.
A federal judge in Brazil charged Kia Joorabchian with money laundering and being part of a criminal gang for his role in the partnership between Media Sports Investments (MSI), the London-based sports management company that claims to own the economic rights to T?vez, and Corinthians, the Brazilian football club.
Judge Fausto Martin de Sanctis also ordered the detention of Boris Berezovsky, the London-based Russian oligarch who allegedly bankrolled MSI, Alberto Dualib, the Corinthians president, and several other club officials on similar charges.
The development overshadowed the news that T?vez is expected to fly to Manchester on Tuesday – two days after he is scheduled to play for Argentina in the Copa America final against Brazil in Venezuela – to undergo a medical with a view to joining the Barclays Premier League champions on a two-year loan deal.
“I think we have got the player,” Sir Alex Ferguson said last night, but if the United manager had any concerns about the allegations facing Joorabchian, he will not have had far to go to speak to him. The pair were at a Wembley Stadium dinner hosted by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, to celebrate ten years of government support for sport. Joorabchian declined to comment on the charges.
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Until he turned his attentions to the UK after T?vez’s move from Corinthians to West Ham last summer, Joorabchian was the public face of MSI in Brazil. In 2004 the company he founded signed a ten-year partnership agreement with Corinthians, wiping out debts of about £11.5 million and immediately investing heavily in players.
Among those bought with MSI money were T?vez and Javier Mascherano, who helped Corinthians to the 2005 Brazilian championship, but only after the club was allowed to replay several games in the wake of a match-fixing scandal.
While Corinthians continued to enjoy success on the field, though, the Brazilian authorities began looking into why none of the money involved in the purchase of players appeared to pass through the country. The subsequent failure of MSI or Corinthians to explain the origin of the money – or how they intended to turn a profit – ultimately led them to launch an investigation amid suspicions of money-laundering.
Whether the allegations impact on T?vez’s impending move to Old Trafford remains to be seen, but a statement issued by Joorabchian last night claimed that “all parties involved in the transfer are now satisfied the administrative issues will be settled in the next few days”.
The Premier League has insisted that, for the transfer to be sanctioned, any fee must be paid to West Ham and not Joorabchian.
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“We want it done cleanly, but as far as our club are concerned, everyone was excited when we thought we could get T?vez,” Ferguson said. “He’s exciting, his form is fantastic and at 23 he can get better.”
Sheffield United, meanwhile, will today ask for permission to appeal against the decision of an arbitration panel to dismiss their claims over the T?vez affair. The club will need to prove to the High Court that there was an error of law in the original decision and that it caused direct serious injustice. If an appeal is granted, the case could be heard today.
The arbitration panel said that it would probably have deducted points from West Ham for breaching Premier League rules in the transfer of T?vez and Mascherano had it sat in judgment originally. West Ham stayed up on the last day of the season, when the Yorkshire club, who finished three points below them, were relegated.