FIFA, UEFA meet over transfer wrangle with European Commission

Though the issues involved are complex, the threat from Brussels to the continent’s favourite sport is a simple one.

Unless radical changes are made to the transfer set-up, the rules which dictate players’ club careers will be outlawed by EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti.

UEFA president Lennart Johansson has predicted chaos, but the Commission’s argument is only a logical extension of the Bosman ruling by the European Court of Justice in 1995.

FREEDOM TO QUIT: After a case brought by Belgian footballer Jean Marc Bosman, the court ruled that players should be free to move when their contracts had expired and that any number of EU players could be hired by EU clubs lifting restrictions in both areas.

Footballers were like dentists, plumbers and all other workers they had the right to do their job in any EU country, the court said in its landmark decision.

Now the commission has taken that argument into the realm of workers’ terms and conditions.

Monti believes that if a disaffected bricklayer or bus driver is free to give notice, so should a professional footballer even if he has signed a five-year contract.

However, that freedom strikes at the very heart of a billion-dollar business in buying and selling footballing talent, generating profits for big and small clubs alike.

The conflict of interest between clubs and EU officials could not be greater, and nor could the stakes.

The unenviable job of finding a third way has fallen to a joint FIFA/UEFA working group which meets here on Friday. The centrepiece of the meeting will be the progress report from a task force set up last month to brainstorm the transfer issue with European leagues, clubs and players’ unions. More than just a talking shop, the task force has been charged with coming up with a global plan that can be put to the Commission before the month is out.

One set of suggestions has already been slapped on the discussion table by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION: His idea is for a ban on transfers for players under 18, a compensation system for players who leave their clubs before the age of 24 and the abolition of transfer fees for those over 24.

However, it remains to be seen just how the compensation fee would be calculated and blatter’s proposals are unlikely to be popular with clubs.

A meeting of the G-14 group of top European clubs earlier this week suggested resistance to change remains strong.

While there was no objection to leaving the under-18s alone and a compensation system for older players, though the G-14 set the limit at 23 rather than 24, the binding contract remains a sticking point.

Europe’s top clubs insist that existing contracts be honoured and that the option of signing a five-year deal should still be available to players.

Though no-one underestimates the commission’s clout, the footballing establishment has powerful allies in German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and British Prime Minister Tony blair.

The two men issued a joint warning to the commission last month against radical changes, with Schroeder later insisting: “It is definitely a matter for political leaders to address. For the moment, the ball is with soccer officialdom. The commission has made its move and on Friday the response from the beautiful game’ should be a great deal clearer.

(Reuters)