26-09-2017 09:00
PANA Committee will look at the world of football as well as corporate tax planning

Altiero Spinelli (ASP) 5 G-2 - Brussels
Pana public hearing on "Tax-planning, do celebrities and companies breach EU law?" - 26 September 2017
PANA Hearing on Football Leaks © European Parliament

In the next hearing of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee into Tax Evasion, Tax Avoidance and Money Laundering on 26 September, Members will first look into the world of professional Football. During this part of the hearing - which was triggered by the Football Leaks revelations - Members will put questions to representatives of FIFA, UEFA and the European Football Agents Association.

The introduction will be given by a journalist of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, who took part in the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network that investigated the Football Leaks files.

Topics that are likely to be discussed are the transparency of the transfer market, the financing of European clubs and the question of players' portrait rights.

The second part of the hearing will be devoted to corporate tax planning, with the participation of BASF. Members aimed at having a representative of Caterpillar present as well, but the company declined the invitation. Nonetheless, ten minutes of the programme are reserved to make statements about Caterpillar.