John Textor reveals behind the scenes of the transfer bans suffered by Botafogo

John Textor, former director of Botafogo's SAF, revealed to Itatiaia the behind-the-scenes of the "transfer ban" punishments that the Rio club has suffered in recent months. He justifies that the main imbroglio arose from a dispute with Atlanta United over Thiago Almada and that important funds were blocked in court by the social club, preventing payments.

According to the American businessman, who was recently stripped of his powers but remains relevant, the 65 million dollars that should have been in the accounts in January were blocked. "If the 65 million were in the bank, these debts would be paid and there would be no more transfer bans," said Textor.

The businessman also explained the case involving player Thiago Almada, which resulted in the first "transfer ban". Textor claims that Atlanta United "breached the agreement" by releasing the athlete, sparking a dispute. "A lot of people don't know this. That's how this dispute started," he said.

Details of the negotiation with Thiago Almada
Textor described that he made an agreement to pay more for Almada's transfer, so that the player would be released before the Olympic Games. "I will pay more money, a bigger transfer fee, if you release him now", reported the businessman about the conversation with Atlanta United.

However, according to Textor, there was a change in the agreement. Atlanta United reportedly tried to get Almada to give up $2.3 million owed to him as a percentage of the transfer fee, something Textor advised him not to do.

"I had to make a commitment to pay this money," said Textor, explaining that the lawsuits against Atlanta United are "very consistent." The problem, according to him, is that the contract was signed with MLS, and Atlanta United registered the case with FIFA, leading to a surprising decision and the "transfer ban".

Blocking of funds and other punishments
The businessman regretted that this was the first in a series of punishments that FIFA applied to Botafogo. Recently, the club entered into an agreement to pay a debt of 30 million dollars.

Textor reinforces that the dispute with Atlanta United "did not start due to lack of payment", but rather due to a "legitimate contractual dispute" that he considers fraudulent. He alleges that the American club induced the signing of the contract knowing that they would try to "take money" from Almada later.

Regarding the other "transfer bans", Textor directly blamed the Botafogo social club. "30 days later we had the money available to pay and the social club blocked that money. Then Ludogorets came, everyone else came...", he said.

He concluded that the blockade occurred "because of that meeting on Wednesday night at JP's house (João Paulo Magalhães, president of the Associativo), when they all thought that the Judicial Recovery was a good idea for Botafogo."

Analysis: "Brazil had a mediocre campaign with poor repertoire"

This text was generated by artificial intelligence based on content produced by Itatiaia. All information is investigated and checked by journalists. The final text is also reviewed by the CNN Brasil journalism team.

Source: CNN