Rarely will you hear the general public sympathise with the plight of top flight footballers. They’re generally seen as overpaid, self-obsessed prima donnas who quit the real world long ago for a life of wealth and luxury.
So for shame on the Italian players’ federation for threatening strike action!
What’s wrong? In need of one more gold-plated Ferrari? Has Serie A refused their demands to legalise supermodel bigamy? Or do they want to ban heading so as to prevent them from ruining their pristine hairstyles? Not exactly.
The players’ association (AIC) is complaining because Serie A clubs are proposing measures that in the words of the head of the AIC, Giancarlo Abete “would seriously curtail the rights of players.”
The most controversial of these proposals is Serie A’s wish to hand clubs the ability to offload a player to another club if said player only has a year remaining on his contract, whether the player wants to move or not. This transfer would depend on the other club offering the player the same wages as he’s earning at his present club.
The aim is to stop clubs losing money through the dreaded Bosman ruling (the rule that allows players to leave a club on a free if their contracts have expired).
Since the introduction of the Bosman ruling in 1995 players nearing the end of their contracts have been able to move freely between clubs, in many cases costing their parent clubs a small fortune. Club owners view top players as valued assets, so losing a 6m€ player for free can be a real smack in the face. How often do we see owners desperate to flog their big names as their contracts approach their expiry dates, just to get a bit of money back for their investments?
Should Serie A clubs get their way owners will never ever have to convince a contracted player to leave early; because they’ll be able to force them out!
There are two ways of looking at this. One perspective is Serie A’s perspective. Compared to English Premier League and La Liga clubs, the modern Italian top flight club is a model of good financial management. It’s been a few years since Parma’s near collapse as a result of the bankruptcy of their major local funder. Though the odd scandal rears its head every now and again like the refereeing bribery case in 2006, debt in Italian football is considerably lower than debt in English and Spanish football. However clubs still work with fine margins; which explains to a large extent why AC Milan, AS Roma, Juventus, Lazio and Inter aren’t competing as strongly in the transfer market as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Man City.
With these fine margins to adhere to, transfer fees become a vital source of income. Losing a top player without any compensation is therefore a pizza in the face for these directors. It’s very easy to see their point of view on the subject.
On the other hand the new ruling could violate players’ human rights. Imagine if Andrea Caracciolo of Brescia Calcio, with one year remaining on his contract, is told to pack his bags and head to Lecce. He’d have to move his family from Northern Italy where they’re settled, all the way to the peninsula’s heel. He’d have to leave his friends, his home, his way of life, and resettle in another city without any say on the matter.
To me this sounds like paid slavery. The Geneva convention gives us all the right to choose where we work, something the proposed legislation by Serie A doesn’t give players.
For once I’m on the players’ side. These are human beings (albeit highly paid human beings) with families, who would undoubtedly be deeply affected by this new ruling.
Though nobody wants to see the likes of Ronaldinho, De Rossi and Sneijder on a picket line I have a horrible feeling it’ll be unstoppable if Serie A don’t change their stance. With Serie A the weakest it’s been in many years can the league really afford to provoke industrial action?
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