Christ, He's Off On One Again
This week has seen the publication of the self-proclaimed Independent European Sport Review 2006, a European Commission Report funded by UEFA. Even before it is read, the point has been missed. This is not generic to sport, it is directed at Professional Football. Not amateur football, the professional game. Even then, the specifics are aimed at the major clubs in Europe not those in the Championship or below or their equivalents. Indeed, the primary driver is that according to the Report, is that Sport accounts for 1% of the entire GDP of the EU. Of that, professional football will deliver at least 75% if not more. Accordingly, it is a large sum over which the meddling fingers of Brussels and Strasbourg have little direct influence and they are desperate to do so. Having tried to lay waste to the Premiership Clubs cartel in selling their TV and media rights, the EU are trying to become involved in other ways. This report is nothing less than a shot across the bows of UEFA, and FIFA for that matter , even if that was the outcome that they were trying to avoid.
Do not get me wrong, in principle I believe the EU to be a good idea. In practice however, it has proven to be nothing more than a institution whose decisions are based upon self-serving interests, be they the French protecting their incomes via the CAP or Britains Rebate. In this light, this humble blogger is incredulous that they believe that the EU can protect or improve the administration and operation of football.
However, to purely describe this Report as EU meddling does it a disservice. It is more pertinent to look at the posturing and litgious nature of the relationship between the authorities, e.g. UEFA and FIFA, on the one hand and the G-14 clubs on the other. It is apparent that both sides are as much to blame as the other. That UEFA fails to recognise the G-14 is well documented, claiming that the Professional Clubs Forum is the appropriate place for such discussions to take place. That the G-14 exists as an organisaton is the ultimate proof that the PCF has failed in its fundamental raison d'etre. Instead, we as football fans, watch from the sidelines as the two and FIFA fight for the soul of the game in the courtrooms, not directly against each other but with one hiding behind a club that could never dream of being a member of such an "illustrious" group.
In the body of the Report, it is hard to escape the feeling that the authors believe that Sport sees itself as being either above the Law or not subject to the Laws that govern the rest of Society. I do not believe this to be the case. Is it therefore necessary to have a section on Money Laundering. Indeed the latter is reported as being a specific problem with "International Networks" managing this business. Forgive me if I do not share their concern. Unless the Authors or UEFA / FIFA provide specific evidence of this problem then this is a non- issue that is being used as a front for their desire to enforce nationality rules. In themselves, rules forcing teams to contain a minimum number of citizens of that country are good for international teams and the game within that country. For the authorities to present a case without evidence of human trafficking, is nothing short of despicable. Does the EU seriously contend that scores of children are brought to Europe from the Rest of the World in the back of flat-bed trucks, forced to go training for pitiful wages and then forced down into Soho or the Rieperbahn to work at nights? If they do, the proposers of such theories are fools and liars. In any case, to compare the plight of footballers to the misery suffered by those victims of truly grotesque human suffering, kidnapped from their families whilst being held hostage is bizarre and destroys the credibility of this Report.
The main recommendations of this report are alas at the rear of a one hundred and sixty page document, full of legalise and political double-speak. I was not sure which sent me to sleep first, this document or the glass of brandy that accompanied it - Terry's Brandy de Jerez 1900 Solera Reserva, if you're interested. The main recommendation, i.e. the first and therefore most prominent, is that the EU taking into account all of their pontification and navel gazing formulate a set of rules, specifically for Sport. Yet, earlier the authors have espoused that Sport and Politics should be kept separate, exactly the opposite of what is being proposed. In an ordered Society, Sport is surely subject to the same rules as you or I at a place of work or at leisure? Are they saying that they believe Sport to be outside of those rules. Certainly some tackles should have been subject to criminal actions in the past but then you get into the realms of intent. Roy Keane, for example, admitted he intended to hurt Alf Inge Haarland when he almost broke him in half. Despite the evidence of Keane's boasting, as of yet no criminal proceedings have been started indication as if any were needed that footballers are not subject to the Law once they cross the line at the start of a match.
The key recommendations that they recommend for the EU and UEFA are:
1. An effective Club Licensing system
2. Central Marketing of Commercial Rights
3. A European system of player transfer regulations
4. A European Players' Agents Directive controlling their activities
5. An effective system of encouraging local education of players, obliging clubs to have a minimum number of home grown players in their squads
6. Legal protection for the pyramid structure of sport
7. Protection for intellectual property rights for fixture lists
The first indications that this is a whitewash are that all of the above exist anyway, under either EU legislation or UEFA / FIFA regulations. What is proved is that UEFA is not able to enforce these regulations or rules.
Where the Report steps onto new ground is the introduction of a salary cap at club level, followed by a levy on those clubs who break it. My initial reaction was that this is unenforceable under European Law so therefore the lawmakers will allow it. However, this is likely to be successfully challenged in the European Courts as it inhibits free competition and isolates Football from the rest of Society by setting limits on the earnings and rewards that a Company can pay to its employees. Should it succeed, the levy is pointless unless it is especially punitive. If for example, the cap is set at 80% of Revenue and Chelsea (and I use them only as an example) exceed that with their salary bill being 85%, then the Levy need not exist. Put them out of the Competitions that they are entered in. Immediately, the club will be relegated and out of Europe the following season. Perfect punishment. Most of their stellar players will leave or request a move, no doubt appreciative that their International game will suffer in playing in a lower league. Indeed, better still, demote the clubs to the lowest level of the Professional Pyramid. If that does not bring them to heel, nothing will. There are too many unanswered questions by this Report on this matter. Nowhere is there a proposal for the Levy. Nowhere is there a proposal for wealth redistribution which is the aim of the Levy. In fact, like most of the Report it is a mish mash of vagaries and fine ideals that will never be enacted, along with crass stupidity.
One overriding thought prevails when reading this Report. Most of the recommendations and points made are covered under existing Laws and Football Regulations. Which then brings into question the suitability of UEFA and FIFA as the games governing bodies. But that's a whole different ball game. And one missed at this juncture.
"An unbelievable climax to the League season" was how the late Brian Moore described the final game of the 1989 season at Anfield. Yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of Arsenal's 2 - 0 win to snatch the League Title from under Liverpool's noses, having done their very best to throw it away in the lead up to the match. I recall The Sun proclaiming that it had broken the news of Liverpool's 5 - 1 win over West Ham the preceding Tuesday, his reaction was "Oh My Gawd!" according to the journalists. I would have thought it would have been slightly stronger than that.
The day still seems fresh in my mind, meeting with Larry & Neil in The Hare & Hounds in Broad Street in Guildford at noon, couple of beers before setting off at mid-day in Larry's works van, I lost the toss and was in back without a seat on the way up. Despite leaving Park Barn at 1pm we still managed to miss the first fifteen minutes of the game due to the heavy traffic on the journey up, listening to the match on the radio whilst trying to park up. Getting the wrong end of the stick, thinking that Steve Bould had cleared off the line instead of what really happened with his header being cleared off the line by Steve Nicol. The match rushed by until Alan Smith's opener, still being none the wiser today as to why the referee and linesman spent the next sixty seconds discussing the goal - surely it was resolved with "Did you flag for a foul?", "No", "Goal it is then". Two second conversation, tops. From then on, the game passed slowly - thinking we'd blown it when Thomas shot straight at Grobelaar from inside the area but it didn't matter in the end. The ball hit the back of net twenty minutes later and I ended up fifteen rows further down the visitors terracing than I started, and climbed back to our original spot just in time for the final whistle. The party did not feel that it was ever going to end. When I eventually got back home, I found that my Nan (God Bless Her) had bought every newspaper from the Saturday morning so that I could make a scrapbook (and I was 23 at the time!), something that I still have to this day, complete with match ticket and programme. Heady days.
Today's Tunes are posted here as a compliment to another blog, Ickmusic, where Pete has posted the full Style Council concert from Milan in 1984. These are from TV performances in that year, thanks to Carlos for this boot:
Long Hot Summer
My Ever Changing Moods
Hanging On To A Memory
Do not get me wrong, in principle I believe the EU to be a good idea. In practice however, it has proven to be nothing more than a institution whose decisions are based upon self-serving interests, be they the French protecting their incomes via the CAP or Britains Rebate. In this light, this humble blogger is incredulous that they believe that the EU can protect or improve the administration and operation of football.
However, to purely describe this Report as EU meddling does it a disservice. It is more pertinent to look at the posturing and litgious nature of the relationship between the authorities, e.g. UEFA and FIFA, on the one hand and the G-14 clubs on the other. It is apparent that both sides are as much to blame as the other. That UEFA fails to recognise the G-14 is well documented, claiming that the Professional Clubs Forum is the appropriate place for such discussions to take place. That the G-14 exists as an organisaton is the ultimate proof that the PCF has failed in its fundamental raison d'etre. Instead, we as football fans, watch from the sidelines as the two and FIFA fight for the soul of the game in the courtrooms, not directly against each other but with one hiding behind a club that could never dream of being a member of such an "illustrious" group.
In the body of the Report, it is hard to escape the feeling that the authors believe that Sport sees itself as being either above the Law or not subject to the Laws that govern the rest of Society. I do not believe this to be the case. Is it therefore necessary to have a section on Money Laundering. Indeed the latter is reported as being a specific problem with "International Networks" managing this business. Forgive me if I do not share their concern. Unless the Authors or UEFA / FIFA provide specific evidence of this problem then this is a non- issue that is being used as a front for their desire to enforce nationality rules. In themselves, rules forcing teams to contain a minimum number of citizens of that country are good for international teams and the game within that country. For the authorities to present a case without evidence of human trafficking, is nothing short of despicable. Does the EU seriously contend that scores of children are brought to Europe from the Rest of the World in the back of flat-bed trucks, forced to go training for pitiful wages and then forced down into Soho or the Rieperbahn to work at nights? If they do, the proposers of such theories are fools and liars. In any case, to compare the plight of footballers to the misery suffered by those victims of truly grotesque human suffering, kidnapped from their families whilst being held hostage is bizarre and destroys the credibility of this Report.
The main recommendations of this report are alas at the rear of a one hundred and sixty page document, full of legalise and political double-speak. I was not sure which sent me to sleep first, this document or the glass of brandy that accompanied it - Terry's Brandy de Jerez 1900 Solera Reserva, if you're interested. The main recommendation, i.e. the first and therefore most prominent, is that the EU taking into account all of their pontification and navel gazing formulate a set of rules, specifically for Sport. Yet, earlier the authors have espoused that Sport and Politics should be kept separate, exactly the opposite of what is being proposed. In an ordered Society, Sport is surely subject to the same rules as you or I at a place of work or at leisure? Are they saying that they believe Sport to be outside of those rules. Certainly some tackles should have been subject to criminal actions in the past but then you get into the realms of intent. Roy Keane, for example, admitted he intended to hurt Alf Inge Haarland when he almost broke him in half. Despite the evidence of Keane's boasting, as of yet no criminal proceedings have been started indication as if any were needed that footballers are not subject to the Law once they cross the line at the start of a match.
The key recommendations that they recommend for the EU and UEFA are:
1. An effective Club Licensing system
2. Central Marketing of Commercial Rights
3. A European system of player transfer regulations
4. A European Players' Agents Directive controlling their activities
5. An effective system of encouraging local education of players, obliging clubs to have a minimum number of home grown players in their squads
6. Legal protection for the pyramid structure of sport
7. Protection for intellectual property rights for fixture lists
The first indications that this is a whitewash are that all of the above exist anyway, under either EU legislation or UEFA / FIFA regulations. What is proved is that UEFA is not able to enforce these regulations or rules.
Where the Report steps onto new ground is the introduction of a salary cap at club level, followed by a levy on those clubs who break it. My initial reaction was that this is unenforceable under European Law so therefore the lawmakers will allow it. However, this is likely to be successfully challenged in the European Courts as it inhibits free competition and isolates Football from the rest of Society by setting limits on the earnings and rewards that a Company can pay to its employees. Should it succeed, the levy is pointless unless it is especially punitive. If for example, the cap is set at 80% of Revenue and Chelsea (and I use them only as an example) exceed that with their salary bill being 85%, then the Levy need not exist. Put them out of the Competitions that they are entered in. Immediately, the club will be relegated and out of Europe the following season. Perfect punishment. Most of their stellar players will leave or request a move, no doubt appreciative that their International game will suffer in playing in a lower league. Indeed, better still, demote the clubs to the lowest level of the Professional Pyramid. If that does not bring them to heel, nothing will. There are too many unanswered questions by this Report on this matter. Nowhere is there a proposal for the Levy. Nowhere is there a proposal for wealth redistribution which is the aim of the Levy. In fact, like most of the Report it is a mish mash of vagaries and fine ideals that will never be enacted, along with crass stupidity.
One overriding thought prevails when reading this Report. Most of the recommendations and points made are covered under existing Laws and Football Regulations. Which then brings into question the suitability of UEFA and FIFA as the games governing bodies. But that's a whole different ball game. And one missed at this juncture.
"An unbelievable climax to the League season" was how the late Brian Moore described the final game of the 1989 season at Anfield. Yesterday marked the 17th anniversary of Arsenal's 2 - 0 win to snatch the League Title from under Liverpool's noses, having done their very best to throw it away in the lead up to the match. I recall The Sun proclaiming that it had broken the news of Liverpool's 5 - 1 win over West Ham the preceding Tuesday, his reaction was "Oh My Gawd!" according to the journalists. I would have thought it would have been slightly stronger than that.
The day still seems fresh in my mind, meeting with Larry & Neil in The Hare & Hounds in Broad Street in Guildford at noon, couple of beers before setting off at mid-day in Larry's works van, I lost the toss and was in back without a seat on the way up. Despite leaving Park Barn at 1pm we still managed to miss the first fifteen minutes of the game due to the heavy traffic on the journey up, listening to the match on the radio whilst trying to park up. Getting the wrong end of the stick, thinking that Steve Bould had cleared off the line instead of what really happened with his header being cleared off the line by Steve Nicol. The match rushed by until Alan Smith's opener, still being none the wiser today as to why the referee and linesman spent the next sixty seconds discussing the goal - surely it was resolved with "Did you flag for a foul?", "No", "Goal it is then". Two second conversation, tops. From then on, the game passed slowly - thinking we'd blown it when Thomas shot straight at Grobelaar from inside the area but it didn't matter in the end. The ball hit the back of net twenty minutes later and I ended up fifteen rows further down the visitors terracing than I started, and climbed back to our original spot just in time for the final whistle. The party did not feel that it was ever going to end. When I eventually got back home, I found that my Nan (God Bless Her) had bought every newspaper from the Saturday morning so that I could make a scrapbook (and I was 23 at the time!), something that I still have to this day, complete with match ticket and programme. Heady days.
Today's Tunes are posted here as a compliment to another blog, Ickmusic, where Pete has posted the full Style Council concert from Milan in 1984. These are from TV performances in that year, thanks to Carlos for this boot:
Long Hot Summer
My Ever Changing Moods
Hanging On To A Memory
posted by Yogi's Warrior at 7:17 am
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