G14 Wants Even More Money Please

By: Daryl | December 6th, 2007

G14 cash You might think the G14 clubs are rich enough already. I certainly do. But the group (representing 18 of the European big boys and in desparate need of a moniker update) are now demanding a slice of the Euro 2008 pie. That’s right, Euro 2008, the international competition for international teams.

G14 general manager (now there’s a well paying gig) Thomas Kurth says “We believe awarding the clubs a share of the revenue generated by the competition would recognise the contribution the clubs make to international football.” OK. Here’s a figure for you: zero.

Club sides very rarely make any positive contribution to international football. If anything they’re a hindrance. How many times have we seen players from big clubs pull out en masse from international friendlies with suspicious hamstring pulls? And friendlies are one thing, but right now managers like Harry Redknapp are squabbling with African national teams about the release of players for the African Cup of Nations. Kaka and Ronaldinho were absent from Copa America this summer because they were exhausted after long seasons with their clubs. And there’s now a trend of players like Paul Scholes retiring from international football earlier and earlier to “concentrate on club football.”

The G14 already have a gigantic cash cow called the Champions League, and quite frankly these big bloated clubs need less money, not more, to even the playing field a bit.

But Kurth’s demands don’t end there. “We want compensation for players injured on international duty, a say in setting the dates for the international matchday calendar and a greater voice in the decision-making process.” Not sure about letting G14 clubs dictate when international games are played, but I’ve got some sympathy for his first demand. I’d still argue that clubs mostly benefit from the exposure players receive in international tournaments, but they definitely suffer when one of their big names comes back broken.

The recent case of the FA covering some or all of Michael Owen’s Newcastle wages seems to have set a precedent for clubs expecting compensation for players injured on international duty. If G14 or any other clubs are to receive any financial gain from Euro 2008 or any other form of international football, then compensation for injuries is the only thing they have a legitimate claim on. It’s fine in the case of Michael Owen because the English FA have got more money than they know what do with (they even gave Steve McClaren a £2.5 million goodbye gift) so can afford to pick up Owen’s wages for a while. But what if the same thing happened to an FA with less money (which would be most of them)? For example, it would be unfair to ask the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football to pay Didier Drogba’s Chelsea wages for six months if he sustained a serious injury on international duty.

A fairer solution would be a combination of Kurth’s two demands, with a percentage of profits from not just Euro 2008 but also future World Cups and any of FIFA’s other financial bonanzas to go to an insurance fund that would cover compensation for injured players. Otherwise we’re going to end up with a situation where national teams are scared to field the big name players in case said player gets injured and the FA gets stuck with a massive bill.