Platini talking FIFA’s Language

RTG has, in general, been a supporter of Michel Platini. It is no secret we support Financial Fair Play in principle, if it is properly enforced. Equally, however, we have consistently questioned whether he possesses either the financial clout or the resolve to enforce his proposals and suggestions (FFP in particular). Our suspicions as to Platini’s true motives were further reinforced last week when he came out in support of a Winter World Cup in 2022 in order that the tournament does not have to be played in the middle of the Qatar summer.

What is perhaps worse is that M. Platini actually had the nerve to suggest that this was for the benefit of the “fans”. "We have to go to Qatar when it is good for everybody to participate. What is better for the fans?" he told the Evening Standard last week. Might we suggest to M. Platini that, if he really wants to look after the well being of us supporters, perhaps it would be better to hold the World Cup in a location that is easy to travel to and around, has some football stadia in which to play the game and doesn’t boast summer temperatures of 45°C plus. While we’re at it, can we also suggest that you choose locations where all supporters, irrespective of creed, colour and sexual preference will be welcome and free to do as they please.

RTG is not suggesting that this ranks anything like the level of contempt for supporters that led to the Hillsborough tragedy but, if there was one thing that came out of that report a fortnight ago, it was that the needs and views of supporters have been consistently disregarded over a number of years by governments, administrators and law-enforcers alike. Choosing to vote for the World Cup in Qatar shows that we continue to be treated as an afterthought in the minds of these people.

Could it be that, in 10 years time, M. Platini fancies the idea of himself sat atop the stinking pile of corruption that is FIFA and that he may be best placed to “take advantage” of all that a World Cup held in an oil-rich nation has to offer?

UEFA Fair Play Watch

RTG promised to keep posting news about this issue and one of the more “challenging” aspects has reared its ugly head once more: the “related party transaction”. These are the rules that allow UEFA to identify and deal with revenue that has been “artificially” received by a club. So, for instance, Manchester City’s record breaking naming rights deal with a sister company of the City’s owners – apparently the City of Manchester stadium naming rights are worth twice that of Madison Square Gardens (!*£$!?) – should come under scrutiny for “fairness” and “value” in a re-assessment of their compliance.

Now Paris Saint Germain have announced an annual 100 million euro shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatari National Bank, another sister company of the owners the Qatari Investment Authority. This supercedes their current deal of 4 million euros by a factor of 25!

UEFA President Michel Platini has consistently stated that teams will not be able to skirt the rules by getting “sweetheart” deals from affiliate organisations. RTG has also been consistent in their fears that UEFA won’t have the stomach to implement the rules. Fuel has been added to our fire by the comments of PSG President, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who stated that the club will respect FFP rules, but added somewhat disingenuously “Platini said that we needed to be creative and we have some ideas”.

Supporter Power – The “Worms” are Beginning to Turn

With an economy in free-fall and the highest unemployment in Europe, Spain’s football supporters are providing a backlash to the indulgences of their football industry. And not just through falling attendances. This season has seen the introduction of a new 11pm kick-off time to accommodate, of course, television.

Malaga fans recently turned up to their 11pm home match dressed in pyjamas as a protest. Following this, Deportivo La Coruna supporters displayed a banner reading “We hate modern football, we hate television”. In RTG’s experience, the Spanish don’t seem to start their nights out until about 11pm anyway. All the more surprising to learn of the protests – but we most heartily support the sentiment!

Billionaires’ Largesse Creating Players in Limbo

Whilst undertaking a nostalgia trip flicking through a 1968 football magazine, RTG stumbled upon an article bemoaning ever spiraling transfers fees which, that year, had hit a shock record high…£2 million. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Leicester City and Aston Villa (then struggling at the foot of old division 2) were by far the biggest spenders. Even mighty Manchester United only spent £37k more than Luton Town of the third division. Basically, it was a far more even playing field.

Today, with billionaire owners bankrolling their clubs to buy success. players and their agents gravitate toward them with the aim of securing big money moves and huge wage hikes or to use “interest” from these clubs as a bargaining tool to force the hand of their own clubs in negotiating a better pay deal.

This has created a body of players for whom wages and transfer moves are confined to only a few select clubs. When a transfer move goes wrong, or a player like this falls out of favour, they become suspended in a professional limbo, unable to ply their trade simply because nobody else can afford them. It also creates absurd situations like Adebayour’s at Tottenham, where City paid 65% of his wages in order to be able to secure the loan deal – a blatant abuse of the loan system which is perhaps for another discussion. With Spurs unable to afford his wages for a permanent move, City effectively had to subsidize his eventual transfer by letting him go for a fraction of his value the previous year.

Players of the calibre of Arshavin, Tevez, and Adebayour himself have severely resticted their options when things haven’t worked out. These weren’t the first multi-millionaire footballers who were happy to sit in the reserves, but some of these players – especially budding England stars such as Wright-Phillips, Parker and Sturridge – would do better to consider the pitfalls of falling into this professional limbo, lured by short term gains – however huge. It could be a career stunting disaster, but then, if you were paid millions to warm a bench on Saturday/Sunday afternoons, with occasional mid week trips to (sometimes) iconic European cities, would you worry?

A Week to Wonder: What's Happening?

Football endured a tempestuous time this week including arrests on suspicion of corruption in the game, more bribery rumours/allegations and controversial issues which have been discussed and illustrated in previous posts by RTG. However you look at events this week, it is hard not to feel like the game is moving further away than ever from what supporters would call ‘reality’.

The England manager’s job appears to be turning into a PR fest, not helped by the FA’s appalling handling of the process last time around. As usual, the FA appear not to be doing anything. However, perhaps we are being unfair as RTG has no idea on the workings of the committees of the sub-committees and various points of order (Mr Chairman).

Candidates and their agents are professing not to be interested, then very interested, all within the space of 24 hours. Today’s papers have Jose Mourinho still saying, "come and get me" and "here’s my plan", while others claim he is waiting for a big club job and is using the England job as leverage in other discussions. However, due to the ponderous processes that the FA appears to operate under, it may be that, as the most ‘popular’ choice, Mourinho may well be bagged by someone else. After all, with the transfer window coming up, it would seem logical that a man of his ability would be snapped up by a leading European team. AC Milan for one!

One of the names being touted to succeed McClaren, Harry Redknapp was one of those arrested and released on bail this week. Presumably this is as an initial result of the recent Stevens inquiry and it is rumoured that more arrests will follow. This at least answers the question RTG posted some weeks ago as to what had actually happened here. How long will we wait for the next events to unfold regarding this matter? Possibly too long for Redknapp to ever be considered for the job (if indeed he ever was a serious candidate). The threat of more arrests may be impacting the selection process already.

The undue haste with which the FA despatched Steve McClaren’s P45 would seem to suggest that they had a ‘plan’ in place, wouldn’t it? It does not look like it, at the moment. What makes RTG worried is that, once again, we will end up with nothing more than a compromise candidate chosen by a combination of media pundits, ill-informed xenophobes and an FA under financial pressure. Don’t book your flights for South Africa 2010 just yet either.

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

• More controversy involving referees at the weekend saw Phil Dowd (again) apparently refer to the fourth official – Uriah Rennie (well it would be wouldn’t it) – and presumably the TV feed, in sending off Robbie Keane. Aside from the hilarity of listening to Andy Gray trying to lip read what Mr Dowd was saying, it has, once again, clouded the issue of video evidence. Let’s hope the FA don’t punish an irate manager as he berates a fourth official into looking at the evidence of a dubious decision. The use of video evidence seems to have come in through the back door (remember Zidane’s sending off in the World Cup final). The only real reason this was especially highlighted yesterday was because the video evidence appeared to prove the officials got the decision wrong, or at least was still inconclusive. Which all just shows what RTG has long thought: the controversial decisions won’t go away just because technology is at hand; it will just shift into a more technical arena. But, the referees will not be in charge of the game.

• UEFA are investigating certain European matches (as yet undisclosed), thought to be Champions League and UEFA Cup qualifiers, for match fixing involving an Asian betting syndicate. Michel Platini is taking a hands-on approach and RTG awaits the outcome in his first major test as UEFA’s president. RTG was somewhat amused when parts of the media implied that some of Croatia’s Euro 2008 qualifiers were involved and that this might give a back door entry for England. This desperate wishful thinking might have more to do with pundit contracts being lost and drink-fuelled jollies to Austria and Switzerland having to be put on hold. No doubt the BBC will still find the budget to send Chris Hollins and Nicky Campbell to bake cakes, wear lederhosen and interview drunk fans in the street.

• Speaking of all things Euro 2008, the draw was held yesterday for the group stages of the tournament. It seems like it is of a better standard, and harder to win than the World Cup, so why spoil the potential of the tournament by allowing the draw to put three of the best teams in the same group. No disrespect to Romania intended. The draw was made a farce by the need to accommodate the two hosts as number one seeds. Clearly a stupid situation and why we should only have a single host for tournaments. It might be argued that this is the only way some countries will get to host such an event but, with only two venues above 32,000 capacity, these two should not have been awarded it in the first place. Look, if Mexico, a third world country, can successfully host a world cup with large venues, then rich nations like these should be able to make more of an investment in what is the second largest international tournament in the world.

• Aaaahh, the romance of the third round of the Famous FA Eon Cup™. The draw was held yesterday amid the usual anticipation of ‘David v Goliath’ and ‘a money-spinning tie’ for the minnows. Amazingly, Manchester Utd drew Aston Villa in the third round for the fourth time in seven years. What seems to have been missed is that, had United not pulled out of the 2000 competition, it would have been five in eight as the so-called ‘lucky losers’, Darlington (who replaced United in the draw) drew guess who? Statistically this seems highly improbable as well as a real bummer for Villa fans.
  
  Hats Off, Take a Bow! (or not).

Player of the week: Fernando Torres - playing sublimely and so surreal like, that you might just believe that Liverpool will break their 18 year taboo of winning the English league.

Villain of the week: all those that believe in video evidence - No! It's not going to work. It won't until we get 'feel around' - or is it 'sense around'?

Heroes of the week: FC Stuttgart Team and Supporters. Everybody in the UK paid scorn on their lap of honour when they picked up their only points in the Champions League. They gave it as a thankyou to their fans who had supported them (a full stadium, when they were already out of the competition). Treated cynically by the British press, yet a heart felt gesture.

Shock of the week: the Arrests! Without judging already, RTG really didn't believe any action would be taken from the Stevens Inquiry. Let's hope, however, that guilty parties are taken down and for those not found out, that this is a warning.

Cliche of the week: "I am interested, I am not interested" - in the England job, of course.

Platini's Aims Laudable but Need Concrete Proposals

In a recent interview with The Guardian newspaper, Michel Platini talked about his concerns, expressed in a letter to all heads of EU government, regarding the “rampant commercialism that assails it” [football]. Interestingly enough, our own ‘gorgeous’ Gordon Brown was the only head not to reply. What a surprise! With all the talk and wringing of hands over recent sporting failings, how interesting that several commentators have identified that the UK government’s lack of interest in football, and sport in general, is reflected by the UK being one of the few leading nations in the world that does not have a sports minister in the main cabinet. Indeed, Australia’s failing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where they won only one gold medal, and finished well down the medal table, resulted in a permanent cabinet position being set up. At Athens in 2004 they won 17 gold medals and finished fourth in the medal table.

Despite no comment from Gordon Brown, Richard Scudamore, Premier League Chief Executive, commented in the Financial Times (note, not a paper with a great sporting tradition) that Platini’s ideas, “do not rise much above the view of people in the corner of the pub.” Actually, Richard, your comments reveal exactly what you think of us – your paying “guests” that you so patronisingly referred to us as. We’re all those supporters in the corner of the pub and we pay your exorbitant wages.

Platini replied through the Guardian by saying, “I prefer to speak with the fans in the pubs.” Great. This is a very encouraging sign. He does appear to be saying all the right things and RTG wholeheartedly supports his sentiments. He has, since his election as President of UEFA, originated some interesting and controversial proposals – not all of which RTG has agreed with (see earlier posts re Champions League qualification for FA Cup winners). But, his letter to the heads of government did not appear to make any concrete proposals. And how easy would it be to fight the money men in actually getting through any proposals, anyway, when his organisation, and FIFA, are rife with rumours of financial impropriety?

Let’s stress again, RTG believes (as Platini seems to) that sport has to strike a workable balance between the financial side of matters and its role in civilisation as a cultural and recreational activity. This is not going to be an easy fight for Platini but RTG believes that we, supporters of football, should give him our backing. That’s why this blog exists and why we need you to lend your support by signing the guestbook.

Reclaim the Game – The Week’s Events

• The ambivalence of both Richard Scudamore and the UK government, as mentioned above, is unlikely to help England’s cause in winning the 2018 World Cup bid. It beggars belief how the FA and Premier League continue to walk around with their feet permanently in their mouths.
• Next week sees the launch of the new 24/7 Setanta Sports News Channel. Great. Now we can look forward to Kelly Dalglish (ex of Sky and still of Kenny) delivering yet more WAG stories and over-sensationalised, trite items on an already dangerously over-exposed sport. Now, we’ll have the pleasure of Sky and Setanta being able to bid for the privilege of showing the England plane taking off for the World Cup (if they get there).
• The World Cup 2010 organisers have announced lower priced tickets to matches for residents of South Africa in order to encourage the full cross-section of the South African population to be able to attend. Applaudable if it is being taken up by genuine South African football supporters. What RTG suspects will happen is a rampant black market where the corporates get all the tickets they want and national supporters’ associations get hardly any. Think about the mark-up they will be able to make from tickets purchased at £9.65 each (the proposed price). Sadly, RTG can not really offer any solution at this point.
• When Tom Hicks and George Gillett first took over Liverpool, RTG expressed our dismay at how most Liverpool fans (in the hope that it was a chance to be more competitive) welcomed them in with open arms. The recent spat between the owners and Rafa Benitez is a wake up call to the reality for Liverpool supporters. What a pity that neither Hicks nor Gillett were in the country to see the supporters’ march before their crucial game against Porto last night. RTG supports those who took part.

Platini Proposals Suggest Parity....but maybe not Practicality

With the first group stage draw of the Champions League taking place in a few hours, we'd like to draw attention, as supporters of a fair and honest sport, to UEFA President Michel Platini's proposals for reforming the Champions League. He should be applauded for trying to even out the spoils across more European countries than at present, thereby creating better competition in the longer term. Since his election to the presidency, he has made several suggestions such as reducing the number of clubs entering from each country (reducing the number in England from four to three), and is now proposing the inclusion of the national cup winners at the expense of the last qualifying place (i.e. only first second and third would qualify in England).

In the short-term at least, the quality and financial attraction of the competition could be diminished. In addition, his proposals for allowing cup competition winners as the last qualifying berth would also potentially create more issues.

We believe there needs to be a concerted effort to increase the importance of national cup competitions especially for the lower leagues. Much depends upon the details of his plans, but we can only point to one example in the last five years, assuming the strict interpretation of "cup winners only", where this would have made a difference for English qualification. If, however, we use the same interpretation as for the former cup winners cup competition, we would have had, in 2001/2002, Tottenham playing off against Wycombe Wanderers for the last spot. And, in 2004, Millwall would have been one of our representatives in the Champions League purely on the strength of a good cup run involving easy draws and a bit of luck (Manchester United in the final was their only Premiership opposition). No disrespect to Millwall and Wycombe Wanderers but you get our point.

Our philosophy has always been that football should attempt to be a fair and level playing field as far as is possible and in that respect Platini is at least thinking in those terms rather than being led by the financial considerations. We wholeheartedly support this sentiment, with the reservations stated above, but doubt whether the big clubs will support his proposals (planned for implementation in 2009). Above all we finally have an administrator who is prepared to tackle the inequities in football and we believe he deserves the opportunity to debate these issues as a starting point; not just for football, but for sport in general.

Beckham Bullshit Leaves McClaren High and Dry

Following our previous post concerning the value of international friendlies, news emerges from a Galaxy far away that Beckham is injured and is unlikely to play any part in England's next two qualifiers. Steve McClaren, as we pointed out, had to pick him due to his travelling 6,000 miles and the media expectations that surrounded his first appearance under the new management. While we should have been looking at options available wide right from a more practical (and maybe longer term) perspective, we are now in the situation where McClaren must fill that position with somebody who has not played that role with England for some time. Once again, short-term accommodations have messed up long-term goals.

Beckham chose to spend his autumn years in LA - nobody else. So he, and his employers, should live with that decision even if it means not playing a part in the England team and Steve McClaren has to have the courage to make that clear to all. Note Beckham's LA Galaxy record since joining: played five, lost four.

Reclaim the Game - The Week's Events

• City of Grief Part III. Liverpool FC's minute silence etc for Rhys Jones (Everton fan) last Tuesday. OK, it's still not politic but enough's enough. If the effort expended in collective grief were actually put into catching the perpertrators of this awful crime they might now be behind bars. Over to you Everton (or Tranmere?).
• Future England Gaffer? John Terry, at the prospect of Ronaldhino joining the Chelsea cash cow, showed us his true insight and tactical awareness by identifying Ronnie's prime role as the world's most gifted and exciting footballer. He must be prepared to track back and develop the Chelsea "workaholic" ethic according to JT. Leave the creative stuff to our Frank and our Sean (if playing) we think he is trying to say. If JT can chew gum and punch the air with the best of them, we have a future England boss in the making.
• Martin Allen (as of yesterday ex-Leicester boss) commenting on the influx of 14 new squad members said that Leicester training sessions were sometimes like "scenes from Zulu". What does he mean? Loads of Welshmen in red jackets being put to the spear? I think we should know. We were going to suggest he invite us to a training session but that's sadly not now possible.
• Not that we want to start vicious rumours, or are in any position to judge, but Tony Adams commenting on ITV4's coverage of the Arsenal v Sparta Prague game last night: any bad habits returning?