777 Partners, prospective Everton owners, were subject to a FIFA transfer restriction because of

Brazilian club, Vasco da Gama, owned by by 777 Partners who have agreed a deal to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in Everton, have been hit by a FIFA transfer ban

Vasco da Gama, the Brazilian club owned by 777 Partners who have agreed a deal to buy Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in Everton, have been hit by a FIFA transfer ban over late payments to club.

Rio de Janeiro-based Vasco have been punished after world football’s governing body was notified that three clubs, Lille (France); Nacional (Uruguay) and Atletico Tucuman (Argentina) had complained they had not received their transfer fees for Leo Jardim, Jose Luis ‘Puma’ Rodriguez and Manuel Capasso respectively.

Vasco owe Nacional £1.6million and Tucuman around £1.23million, with FIFA intervening after the club missed a deadline to complete payments. The transfer ban means Vasco cannot currently register new players but in the short-term that will not pose an issue as the Brazilian transfer window is closed, not reopening again until January and the ECHO understands that 777 representatives believe Vasco will have paid these debts and have the funds it needs before the turn of the calendar year.

Vasco are also understood to have incurred unanticipated debts this summer, including legal fees related to a since-resolved issue with their stadium as well as debts inherited from the previous owners who had anticipated a significant media rights fee that is not being paid this year.

In addition to international complaints, Vasco were also sued at the CBF’s (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol/Brazilian Football Confederation) National Dispute Resolution Chamber (CNRD) for non-payment of the signings of Lucas Piton and Jair, who came from Corinthians and Atletico Mineiro, respectively. Buying Jair cost around R$13 million (£2.13m) but Vasco only paid the first instalment to the Belo Horizonte-based outfit.

The ECHO has already reported on the various protests against 777 Partners from Vasco fans, with Rio de Janeiro-based journalist Rodrigo Calvozzo stating: “The main reason is due to the lack of sporting results,” but despite not being required to, 777 did advance Vasco nearly 25% of the R$120M (£19.5m) it has to pay by October 5 to lift the transfer ban and the club prioritised using those funds in the summer transfer window