FAI faces wage bill for top players

[co. down green]

A European court will deliver a landmark legal judgment tomorrow morning, which could cost the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) up to €6 million a year.

The judgment could also prevent the FAI from fielding top Irish players in international matches. A court in Charleroi, Belgium, is being asked to decide if football clubs should be paid compensation by national bodies, such as the FAI, while they are playing for the national team.

It is also expected that the judgment will set a precedent as to whether national bodies should cover players’ wages while they are with the national team. If this happens, the FAI has warned that it would not be able to afford to field its best players as it would not be able to afford the wage bill. Damien Duff, for example, earns more than €100,000 a week from Chelsea.

The FAI has lobbied Ireland’s EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and other prominent European MEPs in relation to the matter. The body has also visited the European Parliament and the European Commission in relation to the case.

It is likely that the Charleroi court will refer the matter to a higher court in Belgium or the European Court of Justice.

Even if it does deliver a judgment, it is likely to be appealed to a higher court by the losing side.

The case is being taken by Belgian football club Charleroi, which is seeking compensation from a national football association for one of its players who was injured while on international duty.

The case involves Moroccan midfielder Abdelmajid Oulmers, who was injured for eight months after playing in a friendly in 2004.

G14, a group representing 18 of Europe’s top clubs, is backing Charleroi in the case, which is being opposed by European football’s governing body, Uefa.

Separately, the FAI will tomorrow announce Rory Smith as its new commercial director.

Smith, who worked for the Special Olympics World Games, will take responsibility for developing the association’s sponsorship portfolio and increasing the revenue it generates from sponsors.


todays ruling

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-05-15T142712Z_01_BRU004620_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SOCCER-FIFA-CHARLEROI.xml&archived=False

[mypost]

Clubs should be compensated if their players get injured on international duty, but not for selection. Playing International football is an honour, not a cash cow.

[geysir]

I remember when Liam Brady our top player from yesteryear, on his own initiative after his experience with Arsenal, had it inserted into his contract with Juve that he be released for international duty before it became obligatory.
What's to stop the top players like Duff, Keane or Given having a clause in their contract stating that they be released for international duty, gratis, as long as they are insured.
It just takes one player to start it.

[colster]

I remember when Liam Brady our top player from yesteryear, on his own initiative after his experience with Arsenal, had it inserted into his contract with Juve that he be released for international duty before it became obligatory.
What's to stop the top players like Duff, Keane or Given having a clause in their contract stating that they be released for international duty, gratis, as long as they are insured.
It just takes one player to start it.

Exactly, I think that will be the first clause put into any players new contract.
There is another point.
Will this not effect a players current contract? These contracts were signed with the implicit knowledge that it would not effect their international career. If a player is dropped from an international squad because the international team cannot afford to pay the club wouldn't the player have grounds to sue the club?

[pete]

It could never happen. Would mean the end of international football as we know it.

[OwlsFan]

The punter usually has to pay the price in the end so if the FAI have to pay Euro 750,000 extra per game in insurance costs, expect to pay Euro 20 extra per ticket :eek:

[colster]

I think this is a storm in a teacup really. Every one is forgetting about the players themselves. I think they will have a huge say in this.

[geysir]

The FAI already pay insurance for the players, pretty comprehensive, covers players club wages for 2 months?
It doesn't cost anything near 750,000 per game. I don't remember the figure but I was surprised how low it was compared to the injury risk and level of wages.
I did wonder when we made all those substitutions at friendlies did the insurance costs hit another €10,000 high as each one was made.

[tetsujin1979]

The FAI already pay insurance for the players, pretty comprehensive, covers players club wages for 2 months?
I think John Delaney mentioned the figure in an interview yesterday, somewhere in the region of 8 million a year?

[Bald Student]

The figures in the paper were;
Currently 50,000 a game insurance.
Potenitally 750,000 per game if a weeks wages for the squad has to be paid as well.

[pete]

The figures in the paper were;
Currently 50,000 a game insurance.
Potenitally 750,000 per game if a weeks wages for the squad has to be paid as well.

I think 50k per game is a good bit. How much would a club insure a player who plays 40-50 games a season? It doesn't matter if its an international or a club game - the risk is the same.

[geysir]

From
http://www.irishasia.com/node/145
"The FAI currently pays an insurance premium of €60,000 per game which covers each player's wages for up 26 weeks should they get injured while playing for their country."


"At today's huge salaries, the FAI estimate that it would cost them €750,000 per game if they had to pay clubs compensation for the release of international players.
Last year Ireland played nine internationals which would work out at €6.75m - around 30 per cent of the FAI's annual turnover."

[OwlsFan]

That's why I said if it comes to pass there will be a large hike in the price of the tickets for the games.

[pineapple stu]

From
http://www.irishasia.com/node/145
"The FAI currently pays an insurance premium of €60,000 per game which covers each player's wages for up 26 weeks should they get injured while playing for their country."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that the G14 currently get what they're going to court for?

(Obviously that's wrong - just want to know what the real issue is here. Are they looking to get compensation for injuries over 26 weeks? Are they looking to get compensation for release of players? If so, how does that tie into this case?)

[geysir]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that the G14 currently get what they're going to court for?

(Obviously that's wrong - just want to know what the real issue is here. Are they looking to get compensation for injuries over 26 weeks? Are they looking to get compensation for release of players? If so, how does that tie into this case?)
Players are currently insured while on international duty, this covers club wages for up to 26 weeks out due to injury.
From
http://www.irishasia.com/node/145
But G14, the lobby group for Europe's top football clubs, is angry that clubs have to continue paying players wages while they are on international duty and is unhappy that profits which FIFA and UEFA make from the World Cup and European Championships goes to associations rather than clubs. Former German international striker Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is both chairman of Bayern Munich and vice-chairman of G14, said: "The legal analysis we have asked for concludes that we have to release our players but we don't have to do it for free."

They want a compensation for players and they want a share of the profits that the players help create.
Two wrongs don't make a right :)
Nothing decided yet, the case as expected was sent to the European court of human rights..

[A face]

FAI concerned over G14 decision


The Football Association of Ireland is concerned that the ongoing court-case between Belgian club Charleroi and world governing body Fifa will have major implications for the future of the game in Ireland.

Charleroi, backed by G14, a group of Europe’s most powerful clubs which includes Real Madrid, Manchester United and AC Milan, have taken a legal suit against Fifa in search of compensation for a player who was injured while on international duty.


Read more at www.eleven-a-side.com (http://www.eleven-a-side.com/offthefield/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=22547)

[dynamo kerry]

but surely charleroi are suing uefa as they lost on potential revenue as they didn't finish as high up the table as they could have done if their star player had been fit for games - he was injured on international duty

the g14 are weighing in because a victory for the belgian club would give them more leverage in their demands

I'm pretty sure this is the case

[tetsujin1979]

That's my understanding too, it would be interesting if it was Chelsea (or some other high powered non-G14 club) who was suing because they didn't finish higher. Would the G14 support the interests of a club they would consider a rival?

[geysir]

It's not as simple as a club looking for compensation for an injured player.
The Charleroi compensation claim has been rejected by the commercial court.
If the court had ruled in favor of Charleroi then the legal interpretation was that it sets a precedent for all clubs to be compensated for wages while a player is on international duty.
The G14 case was calling for interpretations over FIFA's rules,
"querying whether the FIFA rule on the release of players complied with European Union law".

"According to the decision passed by the Commercial Court in Charleroi on 15 May 2006, the G-14 grouping has no valid claim to make against FIFA and its rule on releasing players on behalf of the G-14’s members. The G-14 – a grouping of 18 top European clubs – and its claim against FIFA amounting to euro 860 million have therefore met with a rebuff."

What happens now?
"The court called upon by Charleroi and the G-14 will now submit the question of the fundamental legality of FIFA’s rule on releasing players to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for a decision."
http://www.news.vu/en/sports/football/060520-FIFA-No-Cause-of-Action-for-G-14-in-Charleroi-Case.shtml