The Battle over World Cup Bucks
That sound you just heard was lawyers around the world hyperventilating over the fees they are going to reap from the brewing battle between the mysteriously named G14 uber rich European club teams and the not so mysteriously corrupt uber fat cats at FIFA. On the same day that word came out that FIFA has struck a partnership deal with VISA starting in 2007 that is worth $262-$351 million (somewhere Sepp Blatter’s offshore bank account is smiling), Manchester United chief executive David Gill has come up with the idea that FIFA should share part of the profits from World Cups with clubs.
Said Gill: “This World Cup will be a fantastic event and produce huge, huge profits and the belief of the clubs is that the assets are being provided for free by the clubs. Manchester United’s view is not that there should be a pound-for-pound reimbursement but we believe there should be a slice of that income that should be distributed to the clubs of participating players on an equal basis.”
Choosing which side to root for in this battle is almost as difficult as picking the ugliest player at the World Cup.
But in this instance we have to side with…gasp…FIFA.
The thing that Mr. Gill and the other donkeys that are part of the G14 always fail to mention is the exposure the World Cup provides their players and their clubs. All summer long we’ll be seeing World Cup Blog All-Ugly starter Wayne Rooney’s mug on television and undoubtedly there will be a new Manchester United fan or two born from this. I’ll venture to say that Manchester United might even sell a jersey or two thanks to the World Cup.
They also don’t take into account the money that FIFA and the national federations invest back into youth football and promoting the sport. These are the very things that are critical for growing the game and growing revenue for the big club teams.
Sure it sucks when a player you are paying a lot of bucks to play for your club gets hurt playing in international competition, but that is a price club teams pay for buying the best talent from around the world. That is also the price that should be paid so that players can represent their countries. There is a lot more honor in that than there is in representing the clubs’ bottom line.
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Comments
By Trent | April 5th, 2006 at 12:48 pm 
Agreed. The G-14’s attitude toward the WC is completely disingenuous. The WC produces a tide of cash that raises all boats. Especially the gold-encrusted yachts piloted by the G-14 clubs. And other tortured metaphors.
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By Eric | April 5th, 2006 at 5:15 pm Will the G-14 “Just Shut-Up!” If they are worried about money they lose than get an insurance policy that covers the players while on international duties like the NBA has on their players during the Season. Secondly if they want to make some of that money Creat a G-14 cup and have them spend their money to promote and develope it. Other than that stop the crying and deal with the money you are making and if you are not making money than sell your team to people who will be willing to pay the millions to try and make money.
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By There’re some things Money just can’t buy - FIFA World Cup 2006 - World Cup 2006 Blog | April 20th, 2006 at 12:03 pm [...] It is hard for us to be fans of credit card companies. The debt we rang up when we were in college is going to force us to work until our arthritic fingers can blog no more. But today we are cheering on MasterCard, which has filed an injunction against FIFA. You might recall that FIFA recently announced a new partnership agreement with Visa, MasterCard’s competitor. According to MasterCard, FIFA entered into this agreement illegally. Why do we care? [...]
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