Gear Bag
International Football In Jeopardy - Uefa
(Goal.com) - Uefa have declared that international football will be destroyed if the Belgian club Charleroi win their "landmark" court case.
Charleroi are suing football's world governing body Fifa for compensation after their player Abdelmajid Oulmers was injured while playing for Morocco in 2004.
And Europe's governing body, Uefa, have told BBC Sport that few countries will be able to fund national teams if Charleroi win.
A Uefa spokesman said: "It would be the end of the national team game. A World Cup would take place with only Spain, Germany, Italy, France and England."
If Charleroi win their case, it will establish the legal precedent of clubs becoming entitled to compensation while their players are on international duty.
The spokesman, William Gaillard, argued that international football was "in the end what people like the most."
"If you ask the English fans if they would like to see one English club win the Champions League or England win a championship, then I think you know the answer," he said.
Charleroi are claiming that loding the services of Oulmers damaged their chances of winning the Belgian league title in 2004/5.
They want compensation for having to pay the player's wages while he was out of action.
In May, the case was moved from a tribunal in Charleroi to the European Court of Justice, where it is now waiting to be heard.
Charleroi are being supported by the G14 group of elite clubs.
G14 disagree with the Fifa rule that players must be released for international football without entitlement to financial compensation.
If Charleroi win, it "would be the end of national football for any football association outside of the big five in Europe," claimed Gaillard. He added: "I was talking to Brazilian, Scandinavian and Eastern European football experts, and they all said we would never see our stars playing for the national team again.
"A World Cup would take place with only Spain, Germany, Italy, France and England and that would be the end."
For more soccer news visit Goal.com
Comments
this a load of you know what. i think that charleroi need to stop blaming uefa for it and suck it up that they didn't win and that one person can't win it for them.
Posted by: arse | October 13, 2006 06:02 PM
Without a doubt it would affect national teams everywhere, but remember national teams have a tendency to keep players past their prime and not giving the young guns the chance they need to excell. Just look at the US,and England's squad. So it's not necessarily a bad thing.
Posted by: Tesoro | October 13, 2006 06:09 PM
how can they sue FIFA?! its not like they injured him, so they shouldnt have to pay, they just make the rules, they shouldnt be suable. that is messed up
Posted by: Niels | October 14, 2006 02:30 PM
Wearing the national team's jersey was and should always be an honor, and it looks better for a club team to be represented by their players in the national team.
Posted by: ace | October 16, 2006 06:43 PM
If anything, they need to come to a better agreement on the terms of releasing players for national duty and getting them back in a fair and timely manner. The football associations cannot be held financially responsible to the clubs for injury or time compensation, it would simply be disastrous to international football. Injuries are a risk factor, one that a club accepts with each player they sign, and the wages of top players could never be absorbed by most FAs.
Top players will be left off their national teams because the FA won't be able to afford them and world football will suffer as a result. As ace said, national duty is an honor and brings prestige to the clubs that carry national team players on their roster. It should be the goal of all players and should not be hindered by financially burdening the associations, many of which are already under-funded.
Posted by: Heath Young | October 17, 2006 12:26 PM
This will end if everybody insures players when they play for them and then share the proceeds of compensation in the ratio of how much compensation the players make from the respective sources.
For example, when a player plays for his national team, the national team should insure him against injury. If he gets injured and cannot play for a while, the club and national team should split the insurance payout. If the club pays him $1 million and he makes a $10,000 compensation from the national team, then they split the compensation in that ratio.
Clubs should also do the same when the players play for them. If they get injured while playing for their clubs, they should split the proceeds of the insurance payout with the national teams, if the national team cannot use the player because he was injured playing for his club.
If they play in a tournament like say, the World Cup, FIFA should buy the insurance and split the proceeds with the club and national teams if they miss games because of an injury sustained while playing in the World Cup. The same goes when they play in a CAF or UEFA tournament, etc.
In this case, everyone gets compensated and the world lives in peace.
Posted by: Pope | October 9, 2007 10:01 AM