Bread, Butter & Football

Unpaid wages, Club going into administration, Debts; these are some of the biggest problems football governing bodies deal with today.

Adebayor,Togo vs South Korea 2006 World Cup

Tottenham striker and former Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor boycotted Togo FA for the second time in two years, the former captain returned to national squad after boycotting it for six months.  “If it’s just a matter of wearing Togo jersey for the sake of patriotism, I’m not in for that,” Adebayor told the media after announcing his boycott, reportedly the striker is unhappy with wage system and administration of the Togo FA. It’s not the first time since players have raised their voices against the system; during the 2012 AFCON (African Cup of Nations) the winning team Zambia didn’t received their prize money even after six months. Where is the motivation here?? We want to win everything, but what’s the outcome??

3 crores worth sponsorship money pending!

In India, professional football club Chirag United Kerla which participate in I-League (Indian football premier league) have not paid wages to their players because they got relegated to second division. According to sources “An amount of Rs. 3 crores is yet to be paid from the sponsorship amount to the club,". The deal which was signed in August last year was for a sum of Rs. 3.75 crores . "They (Chirag Computers) are the owners. We don't know what to do," Manager of the club admitted, suggesting that going to Kolkata (Headquarters of the sponsors) may remain the only option to get in touch with the owners.  "Nobody is picking our calls and there is no sort of correspondence what so ever."To add to the misery, it is also reliably learned that Chirag Computers, via an Email sent last month, told the club that if the team gets relegated they may not make the full payment despite the absence of such a clause in the signed deal. Meanwhile, the players have also not received their salaries for the last two months and the three foreign recruits David Sunday, Isaac Boakye and Charles Dzisah are also without an apartment, as the same was leased by Chirag only till 14 May. Apathy of owners didn’t even inform the players face to face. What about foreign players coming to India?? Is this the way to treat them??  

South America just like Europe is the elite hub for quality football players in world, but that too doesn’t stop them from creating blunders; reportedly in April 2012 Coldeportes (Colombian sporting body) had to suspended 3 clubs in one month for unpaid dues and mismanagement (America de Cali, Deportees & Once Caldas). 

Spanish Primera Division meeting Puyol & Xabi looks on

European Football has its own loop holes, we all know what happened in Spain during 2011-12 opening season of La Liga. Players went on strike and delayed the season for one week. In 2009 Valencia C.F. (one of the top clubs in La Liga and Europe) had a total debt of 547 million Euros! However, due to selling the likes of David Villa (Barcelona FC), David Silva (Manchester City) and Juan Mata (Chelsea), the La Liga team have eased their financial burden—but they're not out of the woods yet. Recently relegated La Liga side Real Betis are one of the most famous in Spain, but their current debts threaten to overwhelm the entire club. Betis were barred from entering European competition after applying for administration last year and are currently sitting on debts of €84 million. Real Zaragoza, the men in suits at Spanish clubs don't seem to have much of a clue about basic economics. According to reports, Zaragoza is around €110 million in debt, and is the perfect example of how not to run a football club. The side applied for voluntary administration in June last year and have remained there ever since, despite recent calls for the major stakeholder to resign from the stricken side

Is this the end for Nicholas X. Notias's AEK ? 

 Recently Greece is going through loads of trouble possible liquidation from European Union, so how their football clubs can can remain unaffected; Panathinaikos, along with AEK, were banned from European competition for a year following their dire financial situation. It would be a sad sight to see one of the European greats sink out of existence.AEK is in huge trouble than Pana, the club is on the brink of insolvency and possible liquidation. UEFA have slapped the club with a huge fine; in addition to AEK's ban from European football. Bigger clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United are in greater debts than AEK, but at least those clubs can sustain it. Athens is all gone.

Scottish clubs like Rangers (134 million Pounds) and Hearts are into administration. 

Following is list of English Premier League Clubs under debt :

Arsenal 97.8 million 

2 out of 20 top E.P.L are debt free.

Aston Villa 110m

Blackburn Rovers 21m

Bolton Wanderers 93m

Everton 45m

Fulham 190m

Liverpool 123m

Manchester City 41m

Manchester United 439

Newcastle United 150m

Norwich 16.8m

QPR 56.1m

Stroke City 8m

Sunderland 66m

Swansea NIL

Tottenham Hotspur 78.6m

West Bromwich 2m

Wigan 73

Wolves NIL

But there is other side of story too; many club owners become too miserly (they hardly spend money on anything with fear of getting under red line) relegated teams like Blackburn rovers (England) & Racing S (La Liga) is perfect examples of the same.

Football clubs unable to pay wages on time and burdening themselves with huge debts are one of most common problem nowadays. Be it any confederation in FIFA; one will find plenty of cases of that sort. Strategic financial planning should be priority for any club owner (pay fat cheques to financial advisors too; It’s no child’s play to run a football club) It’s no use of running behind a big name and signing them. Sporting bodies or FA’s should properly govern the interested parties when buying a club and should be able to tap their own financial conditions.  Government should make proper budgets on sports sections to allocate wages to their players; bonuses should be given if a team wins any major tournament. 

A professional footballer’s job is to play and represent his/her country & club, it’s their job, and winning and losing is part of that job. Professional footballer should be treated like proper employees of a sporting body; giving wages at time is utter most responsibility of any sporting body. Club owners should not force their players in do or die situation to always win; of course winning is important but it’s not everything. Football is unpredictable and anything can happen, club owners need to understand that.  The money which players gets for playing is their bread and butter, if they get paid or not they still play; that’s the love for the game, that’s the passion that drives ; to roll the ball and get it inside the opposition net.

IT'S ALWAYS THE PASSION AND LOVE OF SPORT THAT DRIVE HIM/HER.