Huawei acquired a private box in Anderlecht’s Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in southwest Brussels for the 2024/25 season ― a year in which the club have played host to European giants including Fenerbahçe, Porto and Real Sociedad ― for about €50,000, according to an RSC Anderlecht spokesperson.
According to the people with knowledge of the probe, the Belgian authorities investigated whether hiring the box to get closer to MEPs was part of a wider scheme used by Huawei lobbyists to advance the company’s position in EU policymaking.
At the time of the original allegations, Belgian prosecutors said they were looking at potential cases of bribery comprising lawmakers being paid for taking political positions, excessive gifts, paid trips, and invitations to events. The incidents being investigated span a period from 2021 until the end of 2024.
According to the records of the conversations involving the Huawei lobbyist, the reason for the company hiring the box was to make initial contact with politicians and to try to “grease” them up, according to one of the people familiar with the investigation.
The lobbyist succeeded in bringing freshly elected MEPs to the box by first inviting their assistants. Invitations were then extended to lawmakers from a wide range of political groups, as well as former MEPs and other EU officials, two of the people close to the investigation said.
The surveillance methods used by the Belgian authorities are “quite common in such an investigation,” said a fourth person close to the probe.
