FIFA has imposed transfer bans on Uzbekistani football clubs Bunyodkor and Andijan, the Uzbekistan Professional Football League announced.
FIFA made the decision regarding Bunyodkor on June 23. The association officially informed the league on July 2 that the club cannot register new players.
Bunyodkor had previously acknowledged a debt to former Brazilian player Rivaldo and reached an agreement to pay it in installments over five years. The club fulfilled its obligations under this agreement in 2024 and 2025.
However, in 2026, due to the cessation of funding by its founder and main sponsor, Uzbekneftegaz JSC, the next payment due in May was not made. Rivaldo subsequently re-appealed to FIFA. As a result, the terms of the five-year agreement and the discounts stipulated therein were canceled.
Now Bunyodkor cannot register new players in the league until the end of the summer transfer window. The club can continue the season with its current squad and can only add young players who were registered in the FIFA system as academy graduates before the ban took effect. Players accepted into the academy after June 23 will also not be registered due to the ban.
FIFA also imposed a transfer ban on Andijan. In a letter to the Uzbekistan Football Association, the organization noted that Andijan failed to fulfill its financial obligations to Albanian club Laci in a timely manner.
According to FIFA's decision, the club was required to settle the debt related to the transfer of Altin Kreziu within 45 days. However, the payment was not made by the deadline of June 10.
Consequently, Andijan is banned from registering new players for three consecutive transfer windows until the matter is resolved. After fully repaying the debt, the club will notify FIFA. Once Laci confirms this, the transfer ban will be lifted.
Rivaldo played for the club Quruvchi (later renamed Bunyodkor) from 2008 to 2010, scoring 37 goals in 61 matches and winning the Uzbek championship three times. He is the 1999 Ballon d'Or winner, FIFA World Player of the Year, two-time Spanish champion, and winner of the Copa del Rey and UEFA Super Cup. During his career, he played for Deportivo, Barcelona, Milan, and other clubs.
Quruvchi was founded by Neftegazmontaj, a company within the Zeromax holding.
Rivaldo initially signed a one-year contract with Bunyodkor. His annual contract was €6 million (₤5.3 million) after tax, plus an image rights agreement giving him 26% of other revenues, meaning he earned around ₤7.1 million in his first year.
However, a few months after signing in summer 2008, he agreed to extend the deal for another two years until summer 2011, also taking on advisory duties.
According to Sporting Intelligence, "the first year seemed fine, Bunyodkor clearly had a lot of money." The club hired Zico (2008-2009) and then Felipe Scolari (2009-2010) as coaches, and offered Samuel Eto'o $25 million for a single season, but he refused. The club also paid famous Spanish Barcelona players, including Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, and Cesc Fabregas, $1 million each to participate in coaching seminars and master classes in Tashkent.
From Rivaldo's second year, starting summer 2009, salary payments to players stopped. "He was told there was no serious problem, just a cash flow issue, and although it seemed unusual, he thought there was no reason to worry," his lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, salaries were not paid for a year, but Rivaldo, who had brought several young Brazilians and other staff to the club, "felt responsible for their well-being, so he stayed to take care of them and paid their salaries out of his own pocket."
"I had big plans. I wanted the club to develop and be visible on the world football map. I wanted to improve Bunyodkor's game, raise the quality of training, and take the club to a new professional level. I sent people from Bunyodkor to Chelsea, Inter, and Milan so they could see from the inside what a successful European club is," the Brazilian athlete lamented in an interview with Sporting Intelligence.
By July 2010, Rivaldo decided to go to court, and at the same time, Zeromax went bankrupt. The footballer estimated his losses at €16 million. He said he is trying to recover at least part of that amount.
In February 2024, Bunyodkor director Murod Aliyev said the club's lawyers were working to soften FIFA's decision to pay Rivaldo and Denilson about €9.2 million. He stated that the issue of repaying this debt would be resolved by the club's management, i.e., the state company Uzbekneftegaz. Tribuna.uz, citing its source, also reported that the debts to Rivaldo and Denilson would be paid by Uzbekneftegaz.
In April 2024, Bunyodkor reached an agreement with Brazilian players Rivaldo and Denilson to repay the debt. The team stated that the issue of paying the debt would be resolved by the club's management, i.e., the then Uzbekneftegaz. According to him, the debt of €9.2 million constitutes the club's 2-3 year budget.
Later, Uzbekneftegaz, on the government's instruction, completely stopped funding football clubs from January 1, 2026. According to the company's first deputy chairman, Sukhrob Khamraev, "funding was stopped not gradually, but at once." Previously, about 200-300 billion soums were allocated annually to 3-4 clubs.
Source: www.gazeta.uz