Why Should Countries Pay Clubs For Players On International Duty

Meddling FIFA president Sepp Blatter is intent on leaving a lasting legacy to the wonderful world of football regardless of the effect it will have on the game. This time he has paved the way for the richest clubs in football to get richer still, through payments for their player who are on international duty.

The threat of legal action from the G14 clubs which include Manchester United, Liverpool & Arsenal, appears to have forced the hand of the top man in Football. The clubs were seeking compensation for players injured on international duty, however Blatter has given them a letter if intent which has satisfied them, causing them to withdraw their legal action and disband the group. UEFA will be happy to see the group gone as they had threatened to set up a break away European league.

Countries Could Go Bankrupt Or Competitions Could Disappear!

The details of the payments have yet to be announced, but the intent to pay does beg many questions. Currently the players get a match fee for playing for their country, in tournaments there are other bonuses and incentives for playing. Will these payments be diverted to the Clubs instead of the players? Or will there be a further financial burden on the countries coffers? A burden that could see the end of fantastic tournaments like the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships, or possibly the end of some glorious nations participation in the competitions because they could not afford the payments required to the clubs. How will the poorer African nations be able to compensate cash rich Chelsea for their highly valuable super stars like Drogba and Essien?

Why Should Clubs Be Compensated? Players Made Famous From International Competitions Make Them Millions!

Currently the International tournaments take place during the holiday/close season, with the exception of the African Cup of Nations, which could and should be rescheduled to suit considering the majority of players are playing their game in Europe. So what exactly are the clubs being compensated for? Being denied the ability to take that player on a tour of Asia or America? Surely the player is representing their club in some of the most watched competitions on the planet, if those players play well or win medals their value is raised, meaning the club can charge more for sponsors and branding. Just look at the new partnership between Manchester United and Kumho Tyres, where the Koreans will have paid a fortune to Manchester United so they can use effective sales tools like Wayne Rooney’s name in radio advertising. Their value is also raised on the transfer market, some clubs have been funded and built on the cash from selling a player who did well at a world cup. Damian Duff was sold to Chelsea for a fortune after his displays for the Republic of Ireland in 2002, Bayern Munich made a huge profit on Owen Hargreaves after he shone in the World Cup in 2006, is that not compensation enough for these teams?

Who Will Compensate The Countries If The Stars Are Unavailable For Tournaments?

Has a player ever had their career ended by an injury caused purely in an international tournament? Granted there have been a few long term injuries where clubs have had to pay huge wages during the recovery period, but who negotiated the contract with the players? Who agreed to pay them full pay during their sickness? More importantly if an international star is injured playing for their club and cannot play for their country will the clubs compensate the countries? If Cristiano Ronaldo is injured for the Euro 2008, could Portugal sue Manchester United for inhibiting their chances of winning the competition, reducing their potential revenues from sponsors? If so Wales could have a case against Manchester United as Ryan Giggs nearly always seemed to have a niggle when it came to international time.

It’s Time Players Took Responsibility, Instead Of Just Taking The Money

In the modern game that is awash with money, with players commanding incredible salaries in some cases in excess of £120k a week, plus endorsements. The responsibility must be with the players, they should insure themselves to compensate their clubs for injuries caused fulfilling their international duty. If not the clubs should continue to work with the risk and reward system that is currently in place, they take the risk of the player getting injured, but they also reap the rewards of the influx of cash from merchandise, sponsorship and transfer fees as a result of their player participation.

The European qualifying groups for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group One
Albania
Denmark
Hungary
Malta
Portugal
Sweden

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Two
Greece
Israel
Latvia
Luxembourg
Moldova
Switzerland

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Three
Czech Republic
Northern Ireland
Poland
San Marino
Slovakia
Slovenia

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Four
Azerbaijan
Finland
Germany
Liechtenstein
Russia
Wales

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Five
Armenia
Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Estonia
Spain
Turkey

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Six
Andorra
Belarus
Croatia
England
Kazakhstan
Ukraine

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Seven
Austria
Faroe Islands
France
Lithuania
Romania
Serbia

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Eight
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Georgia
Italy
Montenegro
Republic Of Ireland

FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa – European Qualifying Group Nine
FYR Macedonia
Holland
Iceland
Norway
Scotland

Steve McClaren’s short reign as manager ended when the FA board unanimously decided that the crushing defeat to Croatia at Wembley in the Euro 2008 qualifier would be his last game in charge.

The axe also fell on Terry Venables who will now be free to take up the offer of a position as manager of the Republic of Ireland. McClaren will be in the record books for all the wrong reasons, his tenure is the shortest so far, and in percentage terms he also lost more games than any other manager.

Resignation v Pay-day

Fans & pundits alike expected McClaren to fall on his sword, and resign but as usual in modern football the manager held out for his pay-off. Just 15 months since the proudest day of McClaren’s managerial career came the worst when his reign was labelled an ‘embarrassment’ by Geoff Thompson. Brian Barwick felt obliged to ‘apologise to the fans personally’.

New Manager Selection

There will be another protracted selection process before a successor is appointed and a few of the early favourites have stated they do not wish to be considered for the position, probably because their situations have changed since they were unsuccessful in their previous application.

World Cup 2010 South Africa Qualification Draw

England will discover who their opponents will be in the 2010 World cup qualifiers on Sunday but they will be pitted against some of Europe’s finest as failure to qualify for Euro 2008 will put them in the second pot.

English football will mourn the passing of one of its less glamorous sons, as while the media glorifies the World Cup final goals of Peters and Hurst, there is little mention of the tireless running of Alan Ball that helped England to win the Jules Rimet trophy on home soil.

Hampshire police have reported that Alan Ball died of a heart attack as he tried to dampen the blaze of a bonfire in his garden.

Ball’s playing career began with Blackpool, and during the twenty-one years of playing he had nine different clubs, playing for the tangerines twice. He is best remembered for his spells at Everton, Arsenal and Southampton who he eventually went on to manage. Ball like many of the big names of his era found himself playing in the original Major League Soccer or as it was known then the North American Soccer League in the United States.

After trying to pit his wits in the managerial arena for a number of years, Ball found his niche working as a pundit for SkySports and was involved in the coverage of the first fixture that took place in the new Wembley.

Glen Roeder has bolstered his injury-ravaged defence by adding American World Cup star known as Gooch. Onyewu will be looking to impress during his spell at the Toon in the hope of securing a permanent deal in summer.

Having put in a solid display at last year’s World Cup in Germany he attracted admirers from all over Europe; Chelsea and Real Madrid to name a few. He almost moved to the Magpies nearest premiership rivals Middlesbrough in the summer but the deal fell through. Fulham manager Chris Coleman had also expressed an interest and with the US contingent at the club the move looked to be a done deal but it never came to fruition.

Roy Keane has invested some of his war chest on Trinidad & Tobago winger Carlos Edwards. Luton Town will receive £1.4M for Edwards who cost them nothing a year and a half ago when they signed him on a free transfer from Wrexham.

The 28 year old who scored eight goals in fifty appearances for the Hatters could be eligible for the cup clash with Preston North End this weekend; making his first appearance of his three and a half year deal.

Manager Roy Keane expressed his ‘delight’ at capturing the player ahead of the competition saying the player is joining the club to get them back to the Premiership.

The Graham Poll roadshow was in town to help mark the first North London derby at the Emirates Stadium. Poll who was returning from his month long break following the storm after the clash between Spurs and Chelsea, continued where he left off and made a number of terrible decisions. Firstly the offside for the first goal, where Emanuel Adebayor looked to be half a yard ahead of Chimbonda as he raced clear to stroke the ball past Paul Robinson.

Then he gave a penalty in both halves. The first came as Rosicky was played through following sloppy defending by Assou-Ekotto, he was tackled superbly by Pascal Chimbonda. However Poll saw it as a foul and pointed toward the spot, Robinson dived to the side where Gilberto placed his kick but was unable to keep the ball from hitting the back of the net.

The second penalty was awarded as Robin Van Persie was running alongside Ledley King and Jermaine Jenas toward the Tottenham box, and when he fell to the floor just inside the box, Poll was all too ready to point to the Penalty spot. Gilberto stepped up again and this time sent his kick the other side and coolly increased the Arsenal lead to three goals.

Having been a disgraced during the World Cup by giving a player three yellow cards, and with the events surrounding his in decision about the Terry sending off last month and the poor decisions today. Is it time for Graham Poll to hang up his whistle? Get out while he is still close to the top. As an individual he could be stubborn enough to stay in the game and continue to make poor decisions that could ruin his once shining reputation as one of the best referees in the game.

West Ham United pulled off one of the most audacious transfers in the modern game in signing Argentina’s Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Brazilian Corinthians club. They had been expected to pick a more salubrious destination than Upton Park.

Both players are 22 and starred for their country at this year’s World Cup in Germany. Tevez has been touted to be the next Diego Maradona more for his playing ability than his short stocky appearance.  The players registrations are held by London based Media Sports Investment (MSI) who paid just under $35 million to their previous clubs to allow them to play for Corinthians.

The deals are permanent and the fees have not been disclosed it is believed that West Ham will only receive a small percentage of any fee should they sell the players. Which only leads to heighten the rumour and speculation that already surrounds the transfer. From interference from Roman Abramovich using West Ham as a feeder club, to MSI using West Ham to increase the price of their investments by playing the Argentineans in the UEFA Cup and Premiership. Which could help MSI recoup their initial outlay from a big money transfer to another premiership club, or to one of the European footballing superpowers.

New Villa boss Martin O’Neill looks to strengthen his new squad before the end of the transfer window. Will he adopt his usual tactic of raiding his former club, when he left Leicester for Celtic he immediately went back for Neil Lennon.

With Petrov wanting away there are a number of Premiership clubs looking for his signature, however with O’Neill at the helm Villa will be sure favourites to land him.

Steve McClaren has made his first decision as Manager of the England football team. He has decided that Ray Clemence will remain part of the backroom set up as goal keeping coach.

The former Liverpool and Tottenham great will be able to further his work with England’s current number 1 Paul Robinson.