Israeli ‘super-agent’ Zahavi in spotlight as police raid Belgian soccer club

Three people are arrested following a series of raids in Belgium that intensify the spotlight on Israeli “super-agent” Pini Zahavi amid reports of an illegally held role at the Mouscron soccer club.

Zahavi, who played a key role in Neymar’s record €222-million move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, is not among those questioned by police today.

But the 75-year-old Israeli is suspected of using “fraud, forgery” and “foreign companies” to obscure the extent of his role with Mouscron, who in turn are suspected of filing “false documents” via offshore companies in a bid to maintain their status in Belgium’s top flight.

“Searches were carried out at the offices of Mouscron football club, at the homes of the club’s management and at the headquarters of two sports associations,” a statement by federal prosecutors says.

Following a first investigation in April into suspicions of “fraud and forgery” at the club, federal prosecutors claim “foreign companies helped a player’s agent, P.Z., to mask his control of” Mouscron. The initials PZ refer to Pini Zahavi.

It is illegal for players’ agents to own soccer clubs in Belgium and police suspect Mouscron of filing false documents with sporting authorities to obtain the licence required to compete in the top flight.

Belgian media reports claim Zahavi took over Mouscron in 2015 thanks to a Malta-based financial fund, before selling the club a year later to a company run by his nephew.

— AFP