FIFA’s threatened transfer ban for Brazilian top club Botafogo came into effect on Wednesday and could last up to three transfer windows.
The ban will be lifted if Botafogo pays MLS player Atlanta United $22.5 million for the transfer of Argentine Thiago Almada in 2024. The amount was due on December 26.
In February, a FIFA tribunal ruled that the Brazilian club was responsible for the $21 million transfer fee, along with $1.5 million in interest, after the first two installments between the two sides went unpaid.
Botafogo appealed this ruling at a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing in October, but the club was told in December that CAS had upheld FIFA’s decision.
READ ALSO | Botafogo fires Carlo Ancelotti’s son from the coaching position after a frustrating season
Additionally, sources have indicated that Botafogo will owe the MLS club an additional $9 million from Almada’s performance-based incentives and sell-on fees resulting from the Argentine’s transfer to Spanish side Atletico Madrid this summer.
Almada, now 24, scored 23 goals for Atlanta between 2022 and 2024 and earned the 2022 MLS Newcomer of the Year award.
He signed a five-year contract with Botafogo and started competing with the club in 2024. He was loaned to French club Lyon and played there in the first half of 2025. Botafogo and Lyon are both owned by Eagle Football Holdings.
Almada is a member of the Argentina national team and competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Botafogo won the Brazilian Serie A title and the Copa Libertadores in 2024, but dropped to sixth in Serie A in 2025.
Published on January 1, 2026
