In 2009, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned that football’s financial complexity and opacity made it vulnerable to money laundering. Nevertheless, it was only in 2024 that the European Union included football in its binding AML rules. From July 2029, clubs and agents face banking‑style due diligence. However, legal loopholes, secrecy jurisdictions, exclusion from national associations from the list, the absence of any sector‑specific guidelines or standards and an unclear supervisory role of the newly established AML Authority based in Frankfurt might undermine implementation, leaving formal compliance “on paper” without substantive prevention against illicit financial sources.