Europe
Blatter blasts clubs' human trafficking
Theage.com
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has issued a scathing attack on Europe's top soccer clubs, accusing them of engaging in a "high stakes trade in humans" to boost revenue and build their global fan base.
Blatter blasts clubs' human trafficking
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has issued a scathing attack on Europe's top soccer clubs, accusing them of engaging in a "high stakes trade in humans" to boost revenue and build their global fan base.
Blatter's editorial was published this week in the November issue of FIFA Magazine, the world soccer governing body's official mouthpiece.
In the article, he warned of the dangers that globalisation poses to soccer, but reserved his most biting critique for Europe's major sides.
"Clubs, or rather a select few European clubs, are increasingly desperate to appeal to international audiences in ever more distant parts of the globe to tap into new income streams that will allow them to continue to recruit what they regard as the 'best' players," Blatter wrote.
These clubs have lost touch with their local fans and weakened national teams in their relentless pursuit of foreign talent, according to Blatter.
Homegrown talent can no longer develop in leagues flooded with players from abroad or through academies outsourced to South America, Africa, or increasingly Asia, he claimed.
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"What is questionable though is this: by creating a brand with international appeal, the clubs inevitably abandon much of their local social responsibility," Blatter wrote.
Limits on foreign players in European leagues were outlawed by a 1995 European Court of Justice ruling in a case involving Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman, who sued to halt the practice of clubs requiring transfer fees for players whose contracts had expired.
The court said the foreign player limits violated European Union law by impeding the free movement of workers.
Blatter did not identify any clubs by name.
However, he previously has clashed over various soccer issues with the elite G-14 association, which was formed in 1998.
The G-14 originally consisted of 14 clubs - Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and FC Porto.
Last year, it expanded to 18 by adding Valencia, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon.