The EU Commission is looking at transfer fees with a view to setting limits. Not exactly pricing caps, but pricing according to the training and expense that has gone into developing the player etc. This is quite interesting. It would level the playing field to the extent that the Barcas couldn't use their financial muscle. Thoughts?

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

Answers

An interesting and different concept.

It will be interesting to see who is going to be charged with setting the limits and what criteria they employ.

Who is going to say that a 16 year old YTS kid at Carlisle or Scunthorpe for example is going to be any better or worse that the same 16 year old YTS equivalent at Barca, Juve, AC or Real....surely developement is a judgement call.....

Further, in the country alone, the expense of training for a team like Chewsee, QPR or Fulham is going to be a damn site higher that the Toon, Darlington, Carlisle or York....just as the wage structures in the south are currently a damn site different to those in the north.

As I said, interesting....but I would imagine difficult to actually implement.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

Well, that'll be the excuse from the other countries in Europe. Sorry, I get cross - we "Europhobes" are the most compliant Europeans in the EU when it comes to directives so you can't legally buy some old English cheeses but you can buy that rank, maggoty stuff they flog in Italy.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

PS. ITK, they think that the current system may be illegal, taht's part of the reason they are reviewing it.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

You are (one of) the legal experts round these parts......what is their grounds for that belief

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2000

If the playing field is to be levelled by capping transfer fees, clubs like Barca etc will simply transfer the emphasis onto the money they're prepared to give the player they're after. Either way, the clubs with the most money will be at the front of the queue, as usual.

Meaning, they'd have to cap wages as well. I think it would be a complete non-starter if they simply capped transfer fees.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

This is all about strangling the lower league clubs isn't it?

For example:
Ipswich want to sell Dyer to NUFC
Have to prove that the player won't cost more than what he cost them to produce.
The lower your wages and the more rudimentary your training facilities, the less you can charge for a player and the further behind you fall. Bloody silly idea! Just means that the lower league clubs won't sell their players and we have to buy even more foreigners. Or am I missing the point?

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

I believe the EU's interest is related to the 'restraint of trade' issue that was originally raised by the Bosman business.
As I understand it, despite their Bosman Ruling, they still believe transfer fees represent a restraint of trade for the player concerned, in that they strictly limit who he can play for, or can be transferred to. I don't fully understand it all, but having determined that the player can move on without a transfer when his contract has ended, they're now trying to develop a formula for determining transfer fees during the period of the contract.
These highly paid bureaucrats must be clean out of cheese, and apple "problems", and needing to stick their oar into another industry that doesn't either need or welcome their 'assistance'.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

Remember when King Kev used to put a 500,000 max sell on clause in his contracts so he could choose where he went? There all sorts of proposals afoot, such as allowing players to give clubs just a month's notice before leaving. An EU Sports Commissioner is being set up which will no doubt have a greater effect on the game than UEFA/FIFA and Bosman put together.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

Dougal's faith in the effectiveness of the European Commission is touching, but I don't think that this issue is within the sphere of competence of the Commission.

If it does become involved then there will inevitably be further distortions of the market (a la Bosman)- which yet another Commissioner (DG Market) will be called in to try to rectify.

Can't say much more since they pay my wages and let me live in the sun ...........

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

I have lots of experience of DG15. Basically, the Commission will come up with an idea and we'll get a draft directive, the UK will point out the defects, merits etc as no one else can be bothered to and then we'll comply with it.

-- Anonymous, May 22, 2000

Dougal,

Betcha a pint that this proposed initiative will be unworkable - even in the context of the compliant UK.

BTW, have you been associating too closely with eurosceptic Tory bretheren? There are certain linguistic nuances which lead on to this conclusion.......

Pint to be delivered at your regular watering-hole - Kings X?

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2000

It's a funny game, football. It's just not comparable with other businesses. I can see where they're coming from. But the big difference is that in football, small clubs invest money in training young players and largely survive off the proceeds of this. In business, smaller companies tend to spend less on training. It's the big companies that really spend on the training, even if many people move on afterwards and provide the big company with no benefit for the money they spent training people.

But in a big company, there is enough work for all, from traineess upwards. With a football club, the real on-the-job learning is only done by a select few, who play first team football. Large clubs cannot therefore take the same role as large companies. And small clubs would often not be financially viable if transfer fees were scrapped. So how does the sport support enough players, playing first team football, and learning their trade in the process?

Have mega clubs that field teams in lower divisions? But promotion/relegation would be screwed up, and without a level playing field, the 'product' disappears. Make the larger clubs make significant contributions to lower division clubs to fund their training and other costs? Possibly...but this would be open to abuse by small clubs with dodgy management...they could just pocket the money each year. I suppose this is just an extension to the FA's current role, but with a lot more dosh to spread around the game. Can't see many of the big clubs in favour of it though...giving power back to the FA is not their main aim. ANd how would it work across borders?

Well that's enough of my ramblings...any other thoughts?

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2000

So the players are "suffering" from "restraint of trade"?

The poor b*ggers. That must be terrible. I know I wouldn't put up with that even for #20k per week... (-;

-- Anonymous, May 23, 2000