Lazio’s financial department have incorrectly listed two payments worth €11 million for Portuguese forward Pedro Neto to Sporting Lisbon instead of Sporting Braga, according to a report from English media outlet The Guardian yesterday.
The report details how the Biancocelesti made the mistake due to the similarities between the two clubs’ names. The payments were made in July 2018 and March 2019, with the financial statements suggesting they’d been sent to ‘Sporting Lisbona’, not Sporting Braga.
There is also confusion regarding the amount paid, as Lazio’s accounts see the payments total €11 million, whilst Braga’s accounts list them at €9.5 million. When the deal was carried out in 2017, the Portuguese side said it would be for €12 million, with add-ons seeing that rise to €17 million.
The Biancocelesti sold Neto to Wolves in the summer of 2019 in a deal worth around €20 million.
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General secretary Armando Calveri discussed the situation to the Guardian, saying:
I would like to clarify that Lazio bought both the players (Pedro Neto & Bruno Jordao) from Sporting Club Braga and not from Sporting Club de Portugal.
Unfortunately, it was a mistake made by our financial department that was deceived by the similar names of the clubs. As you well know, SC de Portugal never registered the players. We will adjust our balances by specifying the notes related to the two cases.
He then highlighted why there would be differences regarding the amounts between Lazio’s and Braga’s financial statements.
As you can understand, all the financial information related to the player’s transfer are confidential and it makes things more mysterious. But in this case the imagination exceeds reality.
Your ‘investigation’ is misled by the different fiscal approach adopted by the two clubs, probably.
All the amounts related to the transfer are declared into FIFA transfer matching system that protects transparency in the financial transactions between clubs.
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