Wednesday, July 25, 2007
East End Tango - another update
What a horrible, embarrassing mess the whole Carlos Tevez/West Ham affair has become.
The Premier League were satisfied that West Ham had resolved the anomaly of Tevez being part-owned by a third party (hence the young striker being allowed to continue playing for the club, which he helped save from relegation), but the head of MSI, wanted in Brazil, now wants his cut from the mooted transfer to Machester United. West Ham are, understandably, refusing to play ball.
The Premier League are backing West Ham, as they are clearly obliged to do. Kia Joorabchian, the man behind MSI, is taking action against the London club. No-one seems entirely sure of the role played by the exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. FIFA have passed the buck.
This (although a week old) is the best summary of the sorry affair that I've been able to find. If anyone can explain to me exactly what is meant by "economic rights" with relation to Tevez, I'd be much obliged.
Surely the moral of the story is that FIFA needs to legislate against third-party ownership of players. UEFA's Michel Platini, for one, certainly seems to think so. To quote the article linked in the previous paragraph:
Third-party ownership is a bad thing for competitive football. While the idea of Tevez joining the array of attacking talent at Old Trafford is an appealing prospect, it would be disastrous to encourage the ownership of players by external parties. Inevitable problems would arise, not least that of conflict of interest. If one body owns players at several different clubs, would it not leave the door open for the manipulation of results?
I couldn't agree more.
The Premier League were satisfied that West Ham had resolved the anomaly of Tevez being part-owned by a third party (hence the young striker being allowed to continue playing for the club, which he helped save from relegation), but the head of MSI, wanted in Brazil, now wants his cut from the mooted transfer to Machester United. West Ham are, understandably, refusing to play ball.
The Premier League are backing West Ham, as they are clearly obliged to do. Kia Joorabchian, the man behind MSI, is taking action against the London club. No-one seems entirely sure of the role played by the exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. FIFA have passed the buck.
This (although a week old) is the best summary of the sorry affair that I've been able to find. If anyone can explain to me exactly what is meant by "economic rights" with relation to Tevez, I'd be much obliged.
Surely the moral of the story is that FIFA needs to legislate against third-party ownership of players. UEFA's Michel Platini, for one, certainly seems to think so. To quote the article linked in the previous paragraph:
Third-party ownership is a bad thing for competitive football. While the idea of Tevez joining the array of attacking talent at Old Trafford is an appealing prospect, it would be disastrous to encourage the ownership of players by external parties. Inevitable problems would arise, not least that of conflict of interest. If one body owns players at several different clubs, would it not leave the door open for the manipulation of results?
I couldn't agree more.
