The focus these days while football is on international week is the recent ruling by FIFA to ban Chelsea for 2 years for allegedly signing a minor, Gael Kakuta (above) from Lens without going through the proper procedures.
Similarly, a hundred over clubs have jumped on the chance to get some resolution to similar cases, against the who's who of English football, such as Man Utd, Man City and Everton for signing youth players with great potential from their ranks.
The saga is truly an interesting and debatable one, with both sides of the argument engaged in fiery exchanges. On one side, you have the major clubs of world football, the Man Utds and the Chelseas who can and are able to attract younger players based on their namesake alone. On the other side, you have the minnows as you would have it from the lower leagues in Europe, the Lens, Le Harves, Lazios and Fiorentinas who are unhappy about losing their best homegrown talent to the bright lights of the bigger clubs.
To be bluntly honest, I think the whole saga is a load of crap, invented by the people who do not know and have no idea whatsoever, of the reality in a real world. Arsenal's manager, one of the few men who should deserve praise if not accolades for grooming talent such as Henry, Anelka, Fabregas and lately Jack Wilshere voiced out quite rightly that the people who made these policies are clearly not thinking right. Well, he didn't exactly said that, but he meant that.
Obviously, every young player wants to play for the biggest clubs in football. Not only does he get a better footballing program at a bigger club, his wages are much better to which allows him to assist in supporting his family which in most cases are not well off. His academic education is taken care of. He gets a chance to play with the best in the world which will inevitably improve his skills and mental capacity as a footballer. Most of all, in a footballer's short career of fifteen years the most, he will not get many golden oppportunities from the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal knocking at his door... For goodness sake, give the kids their break to chase the dream.
It is sad to know that footballing authorities are so disconnected with the real world. If they are parents who have a child that has a chance to study at Harvard or Oxford with a full scholarship provided, what are the chances that they choose to restrict their kid to a less renowned university locally?
The modern world is built on a system of merit, people move on to greener pastures on their own accord, consequences and rewards of their decision borne by oneself. In all corporate bodies, established companies poach talent from the smaller firms, oh yes... the reality for smaller companies is very ugly, but the individual should be given their decision to make, not the regulating body or the Ministry of Manpower for instance. Why should football be any different? Is there an over-enthusiastic intention here to level the playing ground? At what costs will FIFA be willing to take? At the cost of denying a kid his dream? Will it even work in the first place, when often times smaller clubs are not making the grade not because they have lost their best players but simply because they do not have the right structure for a competitive advantage in the first place?
Truth of the matter is, the best players want to play in the best team. Cristiano Ronaldo was deemed by the same authorities; to be a slave to his contract last season because his rightful employers Manchester Utd refused to let him go to Real Madrid, the club of the Portugese star's dream. Now they are calling on new policies to deny hundreds of young and promising footballers the chance to play for the clubs of their dreams. Isn't that just lame hypocrisy? Where is the consistency in all of these?
Clubs pay a tribunal fee to the smaller clubs for young talent they bring on board to the club. it is not as if the smaller clubs receive nothing for the player being groomed at their grounds. But because there is no professional contract signed for players below 18 years of age, the fee has to be decided in a fair and netural system for both parties. At the end of the day, the player's career and his choice of progress should be given the priority of thought. The bigger club can then decide if they want to pay the fee stipulated by the deciding authority for compensation of sorts to the smaller club for discovering and training the player.
Reputable clubs with strong and established youth academies like Man Utd and Arsenal provide a wholesome education for their players. They have the capacity to take care of the financial issues for the young player and his family so that he can concentrate on developing his footballing talent, and thus the chance at a brighter future in football. It is a scholarship based on merit to which the young player must earn his place among the club's elite while learning and refining his trade at the academy. The young player can only benefit from this experience. It makes him stronger as a person and his prestigious footballing education ups his value almost immediately (liken it to a degree program at Harvard or Oxford), setting him up for life as a professional footballer. Denying talent the space to grow by fixating him to a smaller club befuddles me.
I think FIFA must draw a line on what they deem as child trafficking. Is it child trafficking at all? Even if the minor cannot make the choice, can the parent not make the best choice for the child? Bribing the parent with money and luxury houses is obviously wrong by any ethical standard, but offering the parent a chance to provide his/her child with a world class footballing education and an opportunity to improve their standards of living is surely not morally or professionally flawed.
If the issue is about levelling the competitive field for football clubs, at what cost will FIFA force it through, will they even restrict the individual discretion to make personal career choices? Eventually, the talented player will still move on to a bigger club if he has outgrown in stature and ability to the rest at the club. It is only a matter of when. Anyway, the whole idea of levelling the playing field in football is nonsensical to me, but this shall be discussed in a different column at a more appropriate date.
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