O Botafogo he was sanctionor fur Fifa and has 45 days to pay the outstanding installments relating to the purchase of Artur against Zenit, from Russia, in January 2025. The Rio club will appeal the decision, but runs the risk of returning to the transfer ban list and being prevented from registering new athletes.
The information was initially published by the “UOL” portal and confirmed by Itatiaia. The failure to pay three installments of the transfer, with a total value of R$ 5.7 million, approximately R$34 million.
With the financial and institutional crisis at SAF, whose control is under legal dispute between John Textor and Eagle, a new punishment from FIFA was treated as a “matter of time” internally since the club entered into an agreement with Atlanta United-USA for the debt relating to the purchase of Almada, in 2024.
The club was prevented from registering new players between December 2025 and February 2026, which prevented the arrival of reinforcements and hindered Martín Anselmi’s work this season. The results are not good, and the coach is under pressure in his position after the early fall in the Libertadores.
Artur was purchased in January 2025, for 10 million euros, from Zenit-RUS. The number 7 arrived as a replacement for King of America in 2024, who was sold to the Russian club.
The transfers of Artur and Thiago Almada are not the only ones for which Botafogo has outstanding installments, which creates uncertainty in the football department when planning the upcoming seasons.
The financial crisis has already had several impacts on the club’s structure and day-to-day operations, with restructuring of different areas, including football. There is no cash guarantee to honor commitments in 2026.
