Apertura faces delayed re-start
Posted on | August 4, 2009 | No Comments
Rarely does a season go by in Spain in which a row over television rights threatens to take some matches off air entirely, before the spat is resolved and the show goes on as normal.
But a TV-connected argument in Argentina has now got so bad the unthinkable is being thought: that there might actually be no football full stop.
The country’s domestic league, the Apertura, is meant to enter its second half on August 14 but is currently suspended by the country’s FA until the clubs sort out chronic cash-flow problems.
Of course ‘it’s complicated’ is the obvious answer to the obvious question of ‘why’, or if you are Argentinian, ‘what the f…?’
But money, as always, is at the root of the problem. Marcela Mora y Arajo, blogging for the Guardian, summaries the issue “in a nutshell”, explaining that some clubs now owe players considerable sums, and as a result have launched legal action through a union.
Clubs owe millions to players
River Plate are among a number of high-profile clubs which apparently owe stacks of cash to their players, with millions of dollars the deficit in a number of cases.
The Argentinan FA has now jumped on the issue, seizing it as a chance to barter for more money from television broadcasters, which in turn would be distributed among the clubs in an effort to alleviate debts.
AFA president Julio Grondona admitted he may have been too “kind-hearted” to debt ridden clubs and is now preparing to get tough.
Agent-player ownership rights under the spotlight
The issue of agents part-owning players and taking a slice of subsequent transfer fees has also been part-blamed for the financial meltdown – a practice always given disapproving glances in Europe but which is common practice in South America.
Added to the mix is the fact gambling on matches is being run by a number of online firms based outside of Argentina – who in some cases are syphoning money out of the country without paying tax or any kind of fee. Unsurprisingly, the AFA also want to plug this cash gap.
Coming to a screen near you – Argentinian Farmers XII v Buenos Aires Carpenters. I doubt it will get that far – in fact it’s nice to see some chickens coming home to roost. But you can hear the immortal words echoing through the continent. ‘How did it come to this?’
Chris Breese
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