EU decision to have big effect on European football

Are FIFA favouring the UK, that is the question being raised by the Spanish and Portuguese who are against the new FIFA rules to curtail third-party ownership.



A football player is a commodity and in the UK he can not be owned by a third party as it is possible they could influence the result of a game or the career of the man they own. Manchester United bought Argentinian Marcos Rojo from Sporting for £16-million (€20m) last summer and Times reporter Duncan Castles suggested it was a move his third party owners were not simply bystanders in. They had helped Sporting buy him for just £2.11-million (€3m) making themselves a tidy sum in 2 years.

Radamel Falcao left Atlético Madrid for Monaco in 2013 for around £42-million (€60m) but the Madrid side didn't see much of the money, it went to his third party owners, a private equity fund. Porto operate the same way, they buy a percentage of a player, usually South American and thus when they sell they may only see part of the money.

We tried to buy Mateo Musacchio from Villarreal last summer, but they only owned 25% of him and wanted more than their 25% of his market value for any transfer fee.

Earlier this year, FIFA prohibited investors from taking shares in football players and the European Commission has begun an investigating that ban. This has come about because both La Liga and the Primeira Liga requested an investigation, potentially with less money it prevents them competing with richer clubs and cuts off a revenue stream for them.

They have requested Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for competition, to investigate whether FIFA has abused its dominant position over world football by adopting rules that unduly favor the wealthy Premier League. They have suggested that it also breaches EU economic rights, the free movement of capital and workers.

There are around 1,500 players in Europe with an estimated value of one billion EUR that have third party ownership. In cash-strapped South America, Eastern and Southeastern Europe it has been estimated by global firm KPMG that nearly 50% belong to a third party investor. The possibilities for gambling are rife. In Portugal the same firm estimate that 30% of the value of all the players is in the hands of third party investors.

Both the Premier League and UEFA are against third party owners, describing it as a modern form of slavery.

Doyen Sports Investments, a Maltese-based fund have also filed a complaint and their CEO Nélio Lucas believes they are helping smaller clubs compete with the larger powers. He has also suggested his firm have invested around £70-million (€100m) in football players. He credits that money with bringing stars such as Radamel Falcao, Colombia’s James Rodríguez, Brazil’s David Luiz and Argentina’s Ángel di María to Europe.
“Our support to numerous clubs has helped them compete at the top level in world soccer."
The success of clubs like Porto, Sevilla and Atlético Madrid is down to third party ownership deals, without them Sevilla wouldn't have won the UEFA Europa League twice and qualified for the lucrative UEFA Champions League.

Spurs can't buy players with third party ownership and those we have tried to buy have been unsuccessful thanks to the third part owners, João Moutinho owners refused to sign the contracts and Leandro Damiao's owners couldn't agree on his potential move.

Miguel García Caba, a lawyer at La Liga, suggest third party ownership is needed but you can't have different rules for some, if you are going to allow third party ownership then you have to allow it for everyone, including the rich clubs.
“Those teams use funds and it allowed them to get top-level players like Falcao. We need to be able to use tools that allow us to compete for cups and players with clubs that have more resources.” 
The problem is that leagues in Europe want to stop the growth of the Premier League. The world wants to watch our brand of football because it is full of mistakes, the ball changes sides quickly, it is played at a faster pace and is entertaining to watch. If it wasn't the TV companies wouldn't be throwing money at the Premier League.

Vestager confirmed they had received a complaint and that is was being investigated, beyond that would offer no comment.

FIFPro, is the world union for soccer players and they have filed a complaint suggesting all existing deals with third part ownership should be made illegal. They filed that complaint in conjunction with UEFA.

It is a big issue that could affect the future of the game, there are arguments for both sides but one human being owning another human being for financial gain can not be right. If you allow it in football then in what other walks of life must you allow it?

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