The Fans Football Blog3

author: Darren Ennis
source: Reuters
date: 23 January 2009
editing: fcbtransfers.blogspot.com





Manchester City’s failed 100 million euros plus bid for AC Milan’s Kaka now begs the question: should there be a limit on the amount of money a club can pay for a player or should there be a salary cap?

Some of Europe’s top soccer clubs and the game’s European governing body UEFA seem to think so, with the news that they have started talks on curbing the amount of money that can be spent on player transfers or wages.

Sources familiar with the discussions have told Reuters that the European Club Association (ECA) — which represents the continent’s leading clubs such as Manchester United and AC Milan — has proposed clubs should only be allowed to spend around 51 percent of their revenue on transfers or salaries.

Under the ECA proposal, revenue would be determined as money received only from ticket sales, sponsorship, merchandise and television income. It would not include any financial investment by owners or major shareholders. Any money from shareholders, or billionaire owners, would be invested into the infrastructure of the club, such as building or renovating the stadium or investing in youth development such as an academy, the sources said.

But, there are concerns that smaller clubs who cannot accumulate large revenues from ticket and television sales may suffer from the ECA proposal. The English Premier League is likely to oppose such a move which would in effect take away a lot of the incentive for these rich owners to invest in a club.

read the full and original article here

read an opinion on the proposal: Radical proposal will just make rich men richer


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