By Paul Nicholson
March 11 – The UEFA Professional Football Strategy Council (PFSC), meeting at UEFA HQ in Nyon yesterday, have slammed the percentage of agent commissions being paid and demanded regulation in the agency marketplace. The PFSC also threatened that if FIFA does not ban third party ownership of players then UEFA will take matters into its own hands.
The PFSC is made up of representatives of UEFA’s member associations, the clubs (European Club Association), the leagues (Association of European Professional Football Leagues) and the players (FIFPro Section Europe).
Top of their agenda was the transfer market and third-party ownership of players. The European Club Association recently commissioned a report into what was a $5.147 billion transfer market over the two seasons of the 2011-12 and 2012-13.
The report found that over the two seasons the five best-place-finishing clubs in the ‘big five’ leagues (the top divisions in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) exchanged €1.435 billion in cross-border transfers between themselves. (See Matt Scott’s Money Talk column, http://www.insideworldfootball.com/matt-scott/14261-matt-scott-want-to-get-doshed-up-then-work-the-agency-gravy-train).
UEFA has increasingly expressed its concerns over third-party ownership (TPO) of players. The PFSC reiterated these concerns and said it supported UEFA’s plan to ban the registration of players who are third-party owned from its competitions – if FIFA does impose a ban on TPO globally.
At the meeting, the PFSC also discussed the calendar for the 2022 World Cup but suspended any decision or recommendation regarding the tournament until all stakeholders had been consulted.
Separately the PFSC and UEFA President Michel Platini criticised the International Football Association Board (IFAB) for its failure at its annual general meeting to change the so-called triple punishment – where a player who denies an opponent a clear goalscoring opportunity in the penalty area, concedes a penalty, is dismissed and, therefore, automatically suspended for a subsequent fixture.
The triple punishment rule has been increasingly criticised across all sectors of the football spectrum – not least by clubs. The rule has effectively killed the two most mouth-watering ties for fans in the return rounds of the last 16 Champions League fixtures that take place this week.
Both Arsenal and Manchester City had players sent off against Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The game changing decisions resulted in 2-0 losses for both the English clubs and effectively ending their challenges for UEFA’s top club competition.
There is perhaps some irony that IFAB is predominantly comprised of the ‘home’ British unions. Itself a bone of contention in the corridors of UEFA where the English FA in particular has generally struggled to find friends.
Contact the writer of this story at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball,com