Irish-based sports management firm Quality Football Ireland (QFIL) is set for a €7.5M ($7.9M) "windfall following a high-profile deal" to sell Portuguese midfielder João Mário to Serie A side Inter Milan, according to Simon Rowe of the IRISH INDEPENDENT. QFIL, which was established in '11 to "buy the economic rights of up-and-coming players," is reportedly due a share of the €45M ($47.7M) deal -- the most expensive sale in Portuguese football history -- after terms were agreed by Mário's club Sporting Lisbon. Sporting Lisbon is due to receive €37.5M ($39.7M) and QFIL will receive €7.5M "as part of the deal agreed in late August." A global ban on third-party ownership of players was introduced by FIFA in '15. However, it is "entirely legal for the likes of agents and investors such as QFIL to buy shares in a club, with a view to cashing in with a cut of transfer fees netted by the club, or providing a loan to a club and being repaid plus interest from sell-on fees; and acting as an agent in order to receive a cut from sell-on fees as commission" (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 11/27).
