Brazilian football club Botafogo is set to face a transfer ban lasting three windows, as imposed by FIFA, due to failure in paying Atlanta United FC a $21 million transfer fee for striker Thiago Almada during the summer of 2024.
The ban has been officially listed on FIFA’s Registration Ban list and will take effect on December 31, 2025.
Almada, now 24 years old, played 17 matches for Botafogo in the latter half of 2024, before transferring to Lyon for the rest of the Ligue 1 season in 2025, eventually moving to Atlético Madrid during the summer of the same year.
The World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, Almada made 77 appearances and scored 23 goals for Atlanta between 2022 and 2024. He then transferred to Botafogo for what was then a record fee for an MLS player.
Atlanta claims that they have not received any part of the transfer fee or the accrued interest that Botafogo committed to pay. This dispute arose after Botafogo negotiated a subsequent deal with Atlético Madrid for Almada, estimated between $20 million and $30 million.
In October, Botafogo, owned by American business executive John Textor, took the case to sports’ highest court to contest the outstanding fee owed to Atlanta, challenging FIFA’s ruling that mandated payment of the full amount following missed installments in 2024.
After a hearing in October, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld FIFA’s decision, indicating that Botafogo sought “more time to ‘sort it out'” in reference to their delayed response to MLS’s first request for payment on behalf of Atlanta.
Almada is a 24-year-old forward who appeared as a substitute in one match for Argentina at the 2022 World Cup. He currently competes for Atlético Madrid, marking his fourth club transfer, including two owned by Textor, in just over a year.
FIFA’s ruling outlined that Botafogo was required to make $3 million payments to Atlanta in July and September of 2024, aiming to settle the full amount by September 2026. However, the initial payments were missed, prompting MLS to issue default notices to the club owned by Textor.
Report includes information from The Associated Press.