"Girona" and Dovbik's agent are suspected of violating financial fair-play in the transfer of a footballer from Dnipro 1

A scandal is brewing in European football over the Ukrainian striker of Spanish side Girona Artem Dovbik.

Artem Dovbik

It is about the financial details of the transfer of the player from Dnipro-1 to the Spanish club, which cost the Catalans, according to Transfermarkt, in 7 million euros. Another part of the sum on this deal was received by Danish "Middtjylland", which had the rights to the Ukrainian player in half with Dnipro.

However, as it turned out, in the process of processing this transfer, some facts surfaced, which may be the subject of an investigation into violations of FIFA financial fair-play.

Girona received a request from lawyers, who assume that at the time of the deal between the club and Alik Football Management agency in the person of the player's agent Alexey Lundovskyi, certain financial arrangements were violated, as well as facts of possible fraud.

In addition, the fact that Dovbik's agent could collude with other persons and commit an economic offence to avoid taxation in Ukraine is now being checked. For this purpose, Oleksiy Lundovsky deliberately registered a legal entity with almost completely similar name of his agency, but not on the territory of Ukraine, but in Estonia. Verification of Dovbik's transfer to a foreign club for purity may affect the direct participants of the footballer's transfer - Spanish "Girona" and "Dnipro-1".

These violations of UEFA financial fair-play, if proven by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) can lead not only to substantial fines (as in the case of Manchester City), but also the denial of a licence for Girona to participate in European football tournaments held under the auspices of UEFA. Earlier, Dnipro 1 also had problems with the transfer ban.

Girona Football Club is part-owned by Citi Football Group, the group that owns Manchester City, which has been in trouble with the law after the Citizens broke more than 100 APL rules.

The scandal surrounding one of City Football Group's top assets is also throwing shadows over other football clubs of this holding company and Girona itself. All the more so as it became known earlier that FIFA may urgently intervene in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which is suspected of corrupt deals, money laundering and dysfunctional management after searches by the Guardia Civil in the RFEF office.