Player Power : Is All The Power In The Hands Of The Players Now?

There have been a considerable number of articles written about how big an impact money now has in the World of Football. We are witnessing a huge number of transfers every year and the press thrives on news about some sensational move of Player X from Club Y to Club Z.

Who is the ultimate winner here? The players of course!

In 1995, a massive legal precedent was set for players when Jean Marc Bosman won a case in now what is famously known as the Bosman Ruling. The whole free transfer system evolved from there and this allows players to jack up their wage rates when their contracts are expiring.

I saw an article about Lucas Neill using the Bosman Ruling to move from the UEFA Cup playing Blackburn to a relegation threatened West Ham (at the time), while turning down an offer from Liverpool. It was his right to do so, of course, but the bottom line remains that he has won nothing at West Ham and he could have won something with the other two options he had on the table—and all that for money.

The Bosman Ruling was a fair one. It equated players to any employees in an organization who could move wherever they wanted at the expiry of their contract. But, about 13 years later, the most ludicrous ruling was passed using the legality of Article 17. This was known as the Webster Ruling. 

This allows any player between the age of 23 and 28 to hand in his "notice" or "put in his paperwork" 15 days after the end of a domestic season if he has two years left on his contract and move to a club outside his current league.

The compensation, you ask?

The clubs would get a pittance—the wages which were payable to the player for the remainder of the contract.

This now allows players to threaten their clubs to invoke the "Webster Clause" and move when contract renewal negotiations are on-going. It gives no leverage whatsoever to the clubs who own the players. What's worse is that it destabilises the transfer market to such an extent that there is a complete imbalance in the dynamics of demand and supply.

No wonder we see Bosingwa—a decent right back move for 16.2 million pounds to Chelsea. The selling clubs have the risk of getting a lot less as the players' contracts get closer towards expiry.

At the end of the day, the clubs' hands are tied—they can only play hard-ball during transfer negotiations, if they can and then lose their players. In losing their players—they lose stability which is vital for any team.

It is just pitiful that the beautiful game is being ruined by certain technicalities that make the players kings and the clubs paupers. When there is so much money floating around, you cannot blame the players altogether for changing loyalties in a matter of days.

Who can you blame then? 

The agents are the people who start all this nonsense. They get the idea of "money" into the players' heads. While players are in it, albeit initially, for the love of the game, the agents are in it to make a quick buck.

FIFA has to take a lot of the blame as well because neither do they prevent the clubs from making public declarations of interest in players and tapping them up nor do they amend their rules to protect the clubs who are affected by these rulings.

Players have all the power in the world of football today. So before anybody goes around blaming the inflated markets and the indiscriminate spending—just take a look at the modern day footballer—and you will find all the answers.