WHY BLATTER'S MANCHESTER UNITED THREAT AFFECTS ALL OF FOOTBALL

"I think in football there is too much modern slavery, transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere. And we are trying now to intervene in such cases"

"I am always in favour of protecting the player. If the player wants to leave, let him leave,"

Unless you have been living under a rock, or in North America, you will be aware that the above comments were uttered by Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA.

Now, I know what you are thinking. The man is a walking sound-bite and his words are not meant to be taken seriously. He is merely there for the amusement of football fans the world over.  Rather like a Swiss Jimmy Hill. Of course, you may be quite accurate in your assessment of the value of his opinions in the world of football. This, in itself is quite remarkable given his lofty position as overseer of the world’s favourite game.

However, on this occasion, such a view could be wrong.  His latest verbal outpouring could have dramatic repercussions on football in Europe and beyond. You may think I am tending to hyperbole here but consider the following scenario.

Blatter, under the auspices of FIFA, directly intervenes in the Cristiano Ronaldo saga and attempts to force Manchester United to sell for some arbitrary sum.  This is not such a leap of imagination when set against Blatter’s direct remark that “we (meaning FIFA, if one assumes a split personality disorder is not at work here) are trying now to intervene in such cases”.  This can surely only be interpreted as a threat to flex FIFA’s muscles in a contract dispute between Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo, where a multi-year binding contract applies. 

In this scenario, if you will permit me to stretch your imagination a little further, Alex Ferguson and Manchester United refuses FIFA’s intervention and challenges the world governing body in a court of law.  Considering Manchester United has this highly valued commodity inked to a binding agreement, it is entirely possible that it would be willing to stand its ground on this one. What could the outcome of such a legal battle be?

Ask the majority of Employment Law Specialists and they will tell you that it is entirely plausible that a court of law would release Ronaldo from his commitment to Manchester United and declare such a restriction of a player’s freedom to be unlawful. After all, how many occupations exist which permit such long term prohibition to plying one’s trade elsewhere?

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