FIFA released a statement summarizing footballer negotiations in the January window. It reported that there were “more than 5,900 transfers” and “more than $1.9 billion spent by clubs in men’s professional football”.
When I receive this type of content, my first act is to find out about Brazil. Which was at the top of signings, with 456 (7.6%) of the total of 5,973, followed by Spain, Argentina, England and Portugal.
What caught my attention was the archipelago of Malta in fifth place among the countries that sent the most players to Brazil. There were 18, behind Portugal (42), Japan (27), Uruguay (25) and Colombia (19).
Renowned in tourism, possessing historical monuments and natural beauty, and a stage for film recordings (offering infrastructure and attractive scenery), Malta is a non-starter in football.
A tiny European country, with an area of 316 km² (less than that of Belo Horizonte) and a population of 569 thousand inhabitants (smaller than that of Florianópolis), the former British colony has never been close to going to a World Cup. The team occupies 161st place in the FIFA rankings (out of a total of 211 nations), just behind the African Essuatini (formerly Swaziland) and Vanuatu, in Oceania.
Its clubs have never been to the group stage (currently group) of the Champions League, and its football league is very weak. Do you know the name of any of the 12 teams in the first division? Here are the three that are title winners in Maltão: Floriana, Sliema Wanderers and Valletta.
The mystery is this: why does Malta appear to be a major exporter of labor to Brazil? I don’t know. I asked FIFA, but I still didn’t know. I also asked for the names of the athletes (who are certainly not Maltese), but I was refused.
I only learned from the federation that all 18 transfers were of players whose contracts had ended and that in the previous January window (in 2025) even more football players (26) who were registered there transferred here.
Football’s highest authority has the information, but does not detail it. I try to understand why someone promotes an interesting product and stops further development of it. Another mystery.
I alternatively sought an explanation, and the conclusion is that Malta is a place with high player registrations for financial convenience. Taxes charged, due to benefits offered by the government, are considerably lower than in countries that are football showcases. It’s a kind of tax haven.
Player agents set up companies in Malta and bind them by contract to a local club. Afterwards, negotiations take place with a team from a more visible center – such as Portugal –, obtaining the advantage of paying less taxes when establishing this hospitalization relationship.
The entrepreneur, in the sale or loan, wins; the club (which charges fees to serve as an intermediary, as a “bridge”) wins; and the country Malta, due to quantity (the tax is lower, but transactions occur at a high rate), wins.
The player has no advantage, as he pays tax on his income in the country in which he is operating.
Mystery, at least this one, solved: the footballers traded are linked to Malta, but do not play in Malta. Which, it is inferred, is a “football registry office”: it is used for registration, and that’s it.
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