Botafogo Faces Transfer Ban for Unpaid Fee to Atlanta United

Botafogo, the Brazilian football club, is facing a three-window transfer ban imposed by FIFA as a consequence of its failure to pay Atlanta United FC a $21 million transfer fee for striker Thiago Almada during the summer of 2024.

The transfer ban was officially listed by FIFA and will take effect on December 31, 2025.

Thiago Almada, now 24 years old, represented Botafogo in 17 matches during the latter half of 2024 before transferring to Lyon for the remainder of the Ligue 1 season. Subsequently, he joined Atlético Madrid in the summer of 2025.

As a World Cup champion with Argentina in 2022, Almada made 77 appearances and netted 23 goals for Atlanta United between 2022 and 2024 before making the record-setting move to Botafogo.

Atlanta United asserts that it has yet to receive any portion of the agreed-upon fee, including interest, despite Botafogo’s later arrangement with Atlético Madrid, which involved a transfer fee estimated between $20 million and $30 million.

In October, Botafogo, under the ownership of American entrepreneur John Textor, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to contest the outstanding fee owed to Atlanta. This legal action was a challenge to FIFA’s directive requiring Botafogo to fulfill the payment obligations after the initial two installments were missed in 2024.

Following the October hearing, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld FIFA’s ruling, noting that Botafogo had requested additional time to resolve the matter after failing to make scheduled payments to Atlanta.

Almada, who made a brief appearance off the bench for Argentina in the 2022 World Cup, is now playing for Atlético Madrid, marking his fourth club move in under 13 months, including two teams owned by Textor.

FIFA’s ruling mandates that Botafogo must pay Atlanta $3 million in installments by July and September of 2024, with a complete settlement due by September 2026. However, the first two payments were missed, prompting MLS to issue default notices to Textor’s club.

This report includes information from The Associated Press.