Tariz Panja – Bloomberg, 8/6/2014
Botafogo, one of Brazilian soccer’s most storied clubs, is in crisis, unable to pay its players after debts totaling more than 700 million reais ($307 million) led authorities to freeze its accounts.
The Rio de Janeiro-based team, whose black and white shirts were made famous by the likes of World Cup winner Garrincha and most recently Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf, hasn’t paid some players in more than three months. The team had tax debt of 127 million reais last season, according to its accounts, and former players are owed millions in pension contributions, a club official said.
“We have 100 percent of our resources blocked,” team spokesman Bernardo Peirao said yesterday in a telephone interview. “We don’t have money to pay the players and the employees.”
Brazil Portal 