UEFA President Michel Platini takes part in a press conference following
the choice of host cities for the 2020 UEFA European championship in
Geneva on September 19, 2014. PHOTO | FABRICE COFFRINI |
AFP
ROME
UEFA boss Michel Platini
on Tuesday urged the European Union to outlaw third-party ownership of
footballers, casting doubt on whether FIFA would act effectively to
stamp out the practice.
Addressing a meeting of EU
sports ministers in Rome, Platini departed from his prepared script to
issue an impassioned appeal over a practice he described as "a tangible
threat to the ethical integrity of our sport."
Bowing
to pressure from UEFA, FIFA agreed last month to phase out arrangements
where a player can be partly owned by a club and partly by one or more
investors.
Critics say such arrangements, which players
including Brazilian Neymar and Argentina's Carlos Tevez have been
subject to, can lead to conflicts of interest and possible corruption.
Advocates
of the system argue that it often enables poorer clubs to hang on to
their best players by generating funds to match the wages of bigger and
wealthier rivals.
Against that backdrop, FIFA said it
would need three or four years to implement its decision, with the exact
timescale not due to be decided until next March.
British
football has already banned third party ownership and Platini said the
whole of the 28-member European Union should create a legal framework to
ensure the elimination of a practice once restricted to Latin America
but now "invading Europe."
"Players see their
contractual freedom restricted as their owners abuse their power and do
lucrative deals on their backs," Platini told ministers.
"It has very little to do with human dignity or the fundamental rights on which the European Union is based.
"These funds (investing in players) are often based in tax havens with very murky structures.
MATCH FIXING NIGHTMARE
"What
will happen when these funds own several players in the same
competition? The response is simple: a nightmare of fixed matches could
become a reality.
"FIFA has said it has heard my appeal and will end the practice over time.
"But
we cannot afford to ignore the possibilities of tomorrow. What will
happen if FIFA does not act with sufficient consistency, energy and
courage?
"What will happen if the (FIFA) resolution,
in the end, is neutralised by pressure from some investment funds
blinded by the pursuit of profit?"
Platini also briefed
the ministers on UEFA's Financial Fair Play initiative, saying he was
proud of the results achieved since the introduction of a system of
fines for clubs who spend significantly beyond their revenues.
"The
fact is we have stabilised a situation that had come close to the point
of no return," he said. "The immense majority of clubs risked being
driven to disaster."
As a result of FFP, Platini said
the cumulative losses of European clubs had fallen from 1.7 billion
euros in 2011 to 800 million in 2013. He also said club arrears on debt
payments, including tax liabilities, had fallen from 57 million euros to
nine million over the same period.
"This virtuous spiral is thanks to Financial Fair Play," Platini said.
FFP
is currently the subject to a number of legal challenges, including one
from fans in several countries who argue that the requirement to
balance budgets over time breaches EU competition law because it reduces
the potential of smaller clubs to benefit from the financial support of
a benefactor willing to lose his money in pursuit of glory on the
pitch.
The system has been endorsed by the European
Commission however and outgoing Sports Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou
reiterated the executive's backing for Platini.
"It is
ambitious to fight it but also comforting to see around the table all
the national ministers agreeing with the commission that we have a
common duty to fight this evil of financial non fair play," she said.
"It is very important that we support UEFA in this fight."
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