Trillium Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 FIFA, UEFA feud forces G-14 to disband Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Michel Platini called the split, "a logical one." (Getty)ZURICH, Switzerland -- The G-14 group of Europe's most powerful soccer clubs will disband and is expected to be replaced by the European Club Association. The G-14, which includes Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester United and AC Milan, has been at odds with both FIFA and UEFA for years, but the group signed a letter of intent Tuesday to work more closely with the governing bodies. It is unclear when the G-14 will sign a "memorandum of understanding" to dissolve and drop any court cases it has against FIFA and UEFA. Belgian club Sporting Charleroi, with the support of the G-14, is currently seeking financial compensation from FIFA before the European Union's highest court because of an injury sustained by Abdelmajid Oulmers while playing for Morocco. "We have reached this positive conclusion by taking care of the legitimate aspirations and requests of clubs to access the decision-making levels of international football," FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. UEFA and FIFA said they could start paying clubs compensation for players who take part in European Championships and World Cups. "The demands of the clubs to be heard and to be associated, also financially, are well-founded," UEFA president Michel Platini said. "The letter of intent signed today is not a political step, but a logical one." On Jan. 21, UEFA will propose the creation of the European Club Association. It would have more than 100 members, including one from each of Europe's 53 national associations. Apart from being independent and recognized by UEFA, the European Club Association's exact relationship with European soccer's governing body was unclear. Barcelona president Joan Laporta, speaking for a dozen top European clubs that took part in the meeting at FIFA headquarters, said the deal was "a victory for all." This is trend the non euro countries in FIFA need to step on fast or the World Cup will be a rotating award to Euro countries who generate big incomes from pro soccer .. i.e. England. Can you imagine the CSA paying some Soctish third division team for the use of players in international qualifying ? Maybe this is the reason they want more fees this coming weekend in Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 I was of the understanding the various confederations would be paying the clubs for official tournaments (Gold Cup in our case), not the individual FAs, and clubs would still have to release players for international dates without compensation. FIFA already has a pretty damn big fund set aside for this and they're growing it. I think this arrangement is a recognition by the clubs that international play is a voluntary act by individual players and FIFA is well within it's rights to "blackball" players who don't wish to support the FIFA brand. FIFA is a business, end of story. That and the clubs could never get away with refusing their players the right to international duty. The players and the fans would never tolerate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Cheeta I think this arrangement is a recognition by the clubs that international play is a voluntary act by individual players and FIFA is well within it's rights to "blackball" players who don't wish to support the FIFA brand. FIFA is a business, end of story. That and the clubs could never get away with refusing their players the right to international duty. The players and the fans would never tolerate it. That, in essence, sums it all up. Problem also is perception. To folks in europe, the Gold cup and Confed cup is insignificant. But the counter argument is that the european club fixtures schedule is also crowded with competitions of little to no prestige or significance to us ( eg.; several different leagues cups, Inter toto cups, even arguably UEFA CUP to name just a few). After domestic championship and Champions leagues, how far down does everything else rank in terms of prestige. Example, I can tell you who won CL and the league in the big three championships but, off the top of my head, I have no idea who won the various league cups nor even UEFA CUP last year. Come to think of it, although we all got a kick out playing in the Confed cup in 2001, do we really care about this event in the bigger picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 quote:Originally posted by Trillium UEFA and FIFA said they could start paying clubs compensation for players who take part in European Championships and World Cups. :::::: This is trend the non euro countries in FIFA need to step on fast or the World Cup will be a rotating award to Euro countries who generate big incomes from pro soccer .. i.e. England. Can you imagine the CSA paying some Soctish third division team for the use of players in international qualifying ? Maybe this is the reason they want more fees this coming weekend in Toronto. Nope. where does it say that the CSA or national association will need to pay the clubs for the realease of players? You highlighted the important point. It just means that FIFA and / or Concacaf will have to pay the clubs. Plus, if you read the highlighted quote as it stands, then it could be interpreted in a favourable way for national sides that have alot players scaterred abroad because the $$$ could be an added incentive for the clubs to secure foreign talent or remove the barrier, risk or impediment that clubs face when signing talent from say, Nother america or africa. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 This would also cause greater pressure from clubs for players eligible for Euro and non-Euro countries, since the club would not receive compensation from non-Euro countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpenza Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Hurray! More money for the rich! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB_Tito Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 UEFA and FIFA said they could start paying clubs compensation for players who take part in European Championships and World Cups. could not will is big difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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