Sanctions have crushed the contracts of Russian football clubs.
The Brazilian football club Botafogo announced that it was terminating the contract with Wendel (Marcus Wendel Valle da Silva), a midfielder who was supposed to join them in the middle of the transfer window.
The club cited sanctions against the owners of Russian football club Zenit as the reason for this decision.
“Due to geopolitical issues, the deal cannot be completed. The owners of the Russian club have been included in the list of international sanctions, which prevents, by United States law, any transaction with the team – especially considering that John Textor, majority shareholder of SAF, is a US citizen,” the club said.
Brazilian footballer Wendel became a player for the Russian club Zenit in October 2020. He joined the club from the Portuguese club Sporting and representatives of the Lisbon club said they had received €20.3m million for his transfer.
FC Zenit is owned by Gazprom, a Russian multinational energy company which controls more than 50% of shares owned by the state.
The first game of Botafogo Football Club was on October 2, 1904. On December 24, John Textor was announced as the new majority shareholder of the club. In four transfer windows, the club received an investment of approximately R$114 million in football.
