 Ricardo Carvalho and Eric Abidal were also signed on free transfers with large salaries.In January 2014, Monaco agreed to pay the governing body of French football, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), a one-off voluntary payment of €50 million to remain exempt from a ruling by the LFP that its clubs must have their head offices located in France.Based in the tax haven of Monaco, the club managed to avoid the effects of tax increases in neighboring France.