So why blog about it?
Well over the last few weeks several things have caught my eye in the football world that fall into the "just not right" sector of my brain.
It seems to me in this crazy world the sport of football is getting too big for its boots. I realise that it is also a very addictive form of entertainment, which may well leave people disagreeing with my outlook, but such is life... So here goes.
Football bigger than the law?
After years of trying to stamp racism out of football, a row has erupted following player John Terry (Chelsea) being caught on video during a premiership match appearing to shout racist abuse at Anton Ferdinand (Queens Park Rangers). The video which has been shown on national television has to have his mouth blurred out so as not to offend or influence impending decisions.The evidence is such that the Police and Crown Prosecution Service have decided to press charges and Mr Terry will have to have his day in court. What makes matters worse is that John Terry is also the Captain of England's National Team.
Now here is my beef, if any employee of a national company was accused of such things, chances are he or she would be suspended pending further investigation. Not in this case. Instead the Football Association has bungled the whole thing and he has been left able to play in the upcoming national events but has been stripped of his captaincy, resulting in the team manager resigning.... Fair enough footballs governing body got it wrong, it won't be the first time.. Here is where it gets worse....
In setting a court date " the trial was held over until the summer after the judge took into consideration Terry's playing commitments for club and country. " Now I am sorry to complain, but if that was you or I, we would go to court at their convenience not ours ????
Surely football, not even National football, is bigger than the law??
Money Talks
This week has seen two football clubs call in official receivers as they have found themselves financially insolvent. The larger of the two, Glasgow Rangers owes a minimum of £9 million to the Tax man that it can't pay, with questions that could result in it being considerably more.
By voluntarily assigning their own administrators the club owners stand to avoid paying the Tax man anything. Its not unusual in the business world for a company to go into administration, find a new buyer and reform loosing many of its debts. But here is the kicker, in the real world, the assets of any sale go first to the tax man, not in Football. By some quirky rule, any assets go firstly to "super investors" that's players, managers and the Football Association. The club will incur a 10 point league penalty, the equivalent of loosing 3 games, and probably carry on playing under a slightly different name This means that in times of cuts, deficit reductions and national financial problems, the Tax Man that funds the governments spending power is short changed. To make it worse it has been suggested another 10 large clubs have wage bills that are more than 100% of the income! Why are Football clubs treated any differently than other business??
What are you Worth
Imagine tomorrow morning you go to work and sit at your desk, you tell the boss I don't fancy doing anything today. How long do you think you would get paid for? In a strange turn of events last October, Manchester City Player Carlos Tevez declined to come off the subs bench during a match. In the ensuing weeks the club docked him 4 weeks wages which was ... wait for it .... £1million yes, £250,000 a week. The spat continued the player went absent without leave for 3 months. The club tried to sell him, but as you may expect no one wanted to spend £40million on him! He his now due to come back... No doubt if he scores a couple of key goals all will be forgiven. But how have we got to a point where a footballer gets paid 10 times more in a week than a nurse gets paid in a year?
Thanks for reading I feel better for getting that off my chest !!!
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