Some wag once said that the difference between soccer and rugby is that rugby is a game played by hooligans and watched by gentlemen while soccer is played by gentlemen and watched by hooligans. Well, another difference is that no rugby team has ever been on the SDN list.

On November 19, OFAC designated Colombia’s popular soccer team, Envigado Futbol Club S.A, as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker. According to an OFAC statement, the team’s owner is a “key associate within La Oficina [drug cartel] and has used his position as the team’s owner to put its finances at the service of La Oficina for many years.” It is, of course, doubtful that Envigado has, or ever will have, assets under the control of U.S. persons, so the impact of blocking the club is mostly symbolic. But as a compliance lesson, it demonstrates that you can’t ever assume that a person or entity might not have been blocked.

Fun fact: James Rodríguez, a midfielder on Colombia’s World Cup Soccer Team in 2014 and the tournament’s top goal scorer, began his soccer career with Envigado FC.

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