FC Nantes indicted for a case of suspicious transfers of players

The Rennes prosecutor’s office revealed on Friday that the club had been indicted on September 21.

FC Nantes has been indicted as part of an investigation opened into suspicious transfers of players, for complicity in a certain number of irregularities committed by sports agents, the Rennes prosecutor’s office announced on Friday November 24.

This indictment dates back to September 21. As a legal entity, the Nantes club was then represented by its president, Waldemar Kita, the Rennes public prosecutor, Philippe Astruc, told AFP, confirming information from the newspaper West France. Owner of FC Nantes since 2007, Waldemar Kita was placed in police custody at the end of June, as well as his son Franck Kita, deputy general manager of the club, and two other people.

The president of the club was released without prosecution at the time but his son and the two other people were indicted, in particular for money laundering, aggravated money laundering, laundering of tax fraud and exercise of the activity of sports agent without a valid license .

The question of sports agents at the center of the procedure

FC Nantes was in turn indicted in September for acts between January 2015 and July 2022, according to Philippe Astruc. The club is thus suspected of having “been complicit in the offense of exercising the activity of sports agent without a valid license, its governing bodies giving instructions to commit the offense”notably “by having false scouting contracts drawn up and erroneous mentions on player contracts aimed at remunerating the services of sports agents that they knew were illegal”explains the prosecutor.

He is also accused of having “in Nantes, Reims, on the national, Malian, Luxembourg territory”participated in the concealment or conversion of the proceeds of a crime or offense, in this case “illegal exercise of the activity of sports agent” in an organized group. Waldemar Kita “vigorously contests the alleged facts” and highlighted a certain “ethics” of “pharmacy world” where it comes from, specifies the Rennes prosecutor, where the procedure is centralized.