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Blatter: Football needs autonomy
(FIFA.com) Friday 5 October 2007
In June 2007, the European Union decided to implement a revised treaty by the end of the year. World sport's various governing bodies, including FIFA, appreciated the efforts made in the first draft to integrate the idea of sport's specificity.
Nonetheless, the IOC, via its president Jacques Rogge and with the support of FIFA, believes that "an important reference to the autonomy of sporting organisations is missing" from the relevant articles (articles 141-143). The IOC is therefore hoping that the European Union will take into consideration the possibility of amendments, as laid out in a letter sent to European leaders (heads of state and government and ministers for foreign affairs and sport).
This is a crucial matter for FIFA, since the future of football depends on it, and explains why FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter gave a group interview to journalists from Europe's largest press agencies on Friday 5 October in Zurich. Here are some of the topics he touched upon.
The revised European Union treaty"IOC President Jacques Rogge has sent a letter to the heads of the governments in European Union countries concerning the specificity of sport in general. FIFA is completely behind the IOC on this subject. Our point of view is as follows: we respect national and international political organisations in their exercising of laws and in the support which they give to sport. However, along with the IOC, we would ask that these political institutions respect the existing rules and statutes and allow sporting organisations to maintain their autonomy. Football is strong enough to manage itself and does not need political institutions to help it in this respect. However, the European Union's support is more than welcome in matters of security, the fight against drugs, stadiums, corruption and violence, which are related to common law. We therefore support this revised treaty, but we would like it to be amended in such a way that the idea of autonomy for sporting organisations is included."
The reasoning behind integrating the idea of autonomy into the new treaty"Asking the European Union for more autonomy is not just to do with the number of foreign players allowed. We wish for example to maintain the right to manage relegation and promotion within our leagues to avoid problems such as the Granada 74 case. Football needs to have the courage to ask Europe for its autonomy. This is why this crucial question will be discussed at the FIFA Executive Committee at the end of October and then submitted to the May 2008 Congress to be held in Sydney.
Ideally, we would like to be able to implement the "6+5" system ( six players eligible for the national team and a maximum of five non-eligible players in a club's starting 11) by the start of the 2010-2011. But first of all, we are making Europe aware of this wish. And where there's a will, there's a way."
The number of club players who are not eligible for the national team"This issue will be discussed at the first meeting of the Strategic Committee on Tuesday 9 October in Zurich. The idea is to find a way of protecting the national identity of the clubs. This explains our desire to push forward the "6+5" principal, which would have a number of benefits. Players who are trained at a club from an early age will have the chance to play in the first team, which is not currently the case in some leagues, while the financial advantages for the clubs are obvious, since they will no longer have to pay out exorbitant transfer fees to acquire players. The knock-on effect for national teams is also clear. Certain championships are already applying this principle, including Ukraine and Russia.
I would particularly like to congratulate Scotland, who have implemented a rule which requires teams to play a quota of under-21 players. As a result, their under-20 team qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup last year and their national team is currently performing brilliantly in the qualifying matches for the EURO. I must repeat that the problem of non-eligible players is limited to Europe. Everywhere else, there is a maximum of four or five foreign players. The results of the two most recent FIFA Club World Cups are interesting in this respect. Sao Paulo, with 10 local players on the pitch, beat Liverpool in 2005, while Internacional of Porto Alegre and their 11 Brazilians beat the mighty Barcelona last year. Finally, I would like to add that we have the support of some of the biggest names in football, including Franz Beckenbauer, Alex Ferguson, Patrick Vieira and Johann Cruyff."
Free circulation of workers and the Bosman ruling"The European Union has implemented the free circulation of workers, but football players are not employees in the conventional sense of the term. You need 11 of them on the pitch, and it is not at all the same thing as being an employee in a given company."
The growing number of clubs under foreign ownership"There are two issues concerning club ownership. First of all, the principle is that no owner can be in charge of two clubs in the same championship for obvious reasons of conflict of interest. The other question is one of third-party ownership of clubs and even of players' rights. This tricky question is currently under study in various FIFA committees, including the Strategic Committee of which Michel Platini is president.
The Premier League is a well organised and marketed championship whose economic strength is no secret. This is why it attracts a number of foreign investors and businessmen. FIFA has nothing against this insofar as the money invested in it is legal. It is the law of economics and of globalisation - pure and simple."
The expansion and the role of the G14"The G14 is looking to expand, fine. Clubs are at the heart of football, which is why we are also looking into this matter with our FIFA Club Task Force. We are open to dialogue, as we are one big family, but the G14 needs to stop taking us to court. It would be better if we could discuss matters and find solutions within the family of football."
The number of clubs in various championships"In principle, having a 20-club championship is neither a good nor a bad thing. The main thing is the fixture calendar. If you have cup competitions, like the Copa del Rey in Spain, which are played on a two-leg basis and then you add the European cups, it simply creates a bottleneck. What worries FIFA is the health of the players and the effective monitoring of their health by their clubs. This is particularly true concerning the heart problems suffered by players in recent times."
(FIFA.com) Friday 5 October 2007
In June 2007, the European Union decided to implement a revised treaty by the end of the year. World sport's various governing bodies, including FIFA, appreciated the efforts made in the first draft to integrate the idea of sport's specificity.
Nonetheless, the IOC, via its president Jacques Rogge and with the support of FIFA, believes that "an important reference to the autonomy of sporting organisations is missing" from the relevant articles (articles 141-143). The IOC is therefore hoping that the European Union will take into consideration the possibility of amendments, as laid out in a letter sent to European leaders (heads of state and government and ministers for foreign affairs and sport).
This is a crucial matter for FIFA, since the future of football depends on it, and explains why FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter gave a group interview to journalists from Europe's largest press agencies on Friday 5 October in Zurich. Here are some of the topics he touched upon.
The revised European Union treaty"IOC President Jacques Rogge has sent a letter to the heads of the governments in European Union countries concerning the specificity of sport in general. FIFA is completely behind the IOC on this subject. Our point of view is as follows: we respect national and international political organisations in their exercising of laws and in the support which they give to sport. However, along with the IOC, we would ask that these political institutions respect the existing rules and statutes and allow sporting organisations to maintain their autonomy. Football is strong enough to manage itself and does not need political institutions to help it in this respect. However, the European Union's support is more than welcome in matters of security, the fight against drugs, stadiums, corruption and violence, which are related to common law. We therefore support this revised treaty, but we would like it to be amended in such a way that the idea of autonomy for sporting organisations is included."
The reasoning behind integrating the idea of autonomy into the new treaty"Asking the European Union for more autonomy is not just to do with the number of foreign players allowed. We wish for example to maintain the right to manage relegation and promotion within our leagues to avoid problems such as the Granada 74 case. Football needs to have the courage to ask Europe for its autonomy. This is why this crucial question will be discussed at the FIFA Executive Committee at the end of October and then submitted to the May 2008 Congress to be held in Sydney.
Ideally, we would like to be able to implement the "6+5" system ( six players eligible for the national team and a maximum of five non-eligible players in a club's starting 11) by the start of the 2010-2011. But first of all, we are making Europe aware of this wish. And where there's a will, there's a way."
The number of club players who are not eligible for the national team"This issue will be discussed at the first meeting of the Strategic Committee on Tuesday 9 October in Zurich. The idea is to find a way of protecting the national identity of the clubs. This explains our desire to push forward the "6+5" principal, which would have a number of benefits. Players who are trained at a club from an early age will have the chance to play in the first team, which is not currently the case in some leagues, while the financial advantages for the clubs are obvious, since they will no longer have to pay out exorbitant transfer fees to acquire players. The knock-on effect for national teams is also clear. Certain championships are already applying this principle, including Ukraine and Russia.
I would particularly like to congratulate Scotland, who have implemented a rule which requires teams to play a quota of under-21 players. As a result, their under-20 team qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup last year and their national team is currently performing brilliantly in the qualifying matches for the EURO. I must repeat that the problem of non-eligible players is limited to Europe. Everywhere else, there is a maximum of four or five foreign players. The results of the two most recent FIFA Club World Cups are interesting in this respect. Sao Paulo, with 10 local players on the pitch, beat Liverpool in 2005, while Internacional of Porto Alegre and their 11 Brazilians beat the mighty Barcelona last year. Finally, I would like to add that we have the support of some of the biggest names in football, including Franz Beckenbauer, Alex Ferguson, Patrick Vieira and Johann Cruyff."
Free circulation of workers and the Bosman ruling"The European Union has implemented the free circulation of workers, but football players are not employees in the conventional sense of the term. You need 11 of them on the pitch, and it is not at all the same thing as being an employee in a given company."
The growing number of clubs under foreign ownership"There are two issues concerning club ownership. First of all, the principle is that no owner can be in charge of two clubs in the same championship for obvious reasons of conflict of interest. The other question is one of third-party ownership of clubs and even of players' rights. This tricky question is currently under study in various FIFA committees, including the Strategic Committee of which Michel Platini is president.
The Premier League is a well organised and marketed championship whose economic strength is no secret. This is why it attracts a number of foreign investors and businessmen. FIFA has nothing against this insofar as the money invested in it is legal. It is the law of economics and of globalisation - pure and simple."
The expansion and the role of the G14"The G14 is looking to expand, fine. Clubs are at the heart of football, which is why we are also looking into this matter with our FIFA Club Task Force. We are open to dialogue, as we are one big family, but the G14 needs to stop taking us to court. It would be better if we could discuss matters and find solutions within the family of football."
The number of clubs in various championships"In principle, having a 20-club championship is neither a good nor a bad thing. The main thing is the fixture calendar. If you have cup competitions, like the Copa del Rey in Spain, which are played on a two-leg basis and then you add the European cups, it simply creates a bottleneck. What worries FIFA is the health of the players and the effective monitoring of their health by their clubs. This is particularly true concerning the heart problems suffered by players in recent times."