This paper deals with the synchronization problem, which arises in multiple 3D point-set registration and in structure-from-motion. The problem is formulated as a low-rank and sparse matrix decom- position that caters for missing data, outliers and noise, and it benefits from a wealth of available decomposition algorithms that can be plugged-in. A minimization strategy, dubbed R-GoDec, is also proposed. Experimental results on simulated and real data show that this approach offers a good trade-off between resistance to outliers and speed.