Heading for a fall

FIFA boss faces danger of high ground in club-country dispute

By Gavin Hamilton, World Soccer Magazine

Find out more about World Soccer magazine's online subscription offer.

Sepp Blatter has been at it again. He takes the moral high ground so often he will eventually fall off it and do himself a nasty injury.

His stinging rebuke of the English Football Association for the delays in dealing with Rio Ferdinand's missed dope test, and his criticism of Manchester United chief executive David Gill, were vintage Blatter.

Whether FIFA has the power to punish the FA and United over the Ferdinand affair is debatable. But Blatter has another agenda. He has to be seen acting as football's moral guardian -- and uses the very public opportunity of a major press conference to make his point.

A few words in private would be far more effective than rehearsed lines in front of a microphone. But, ever the showman, Blatter has to be seen to acting tough in public.

The real battle for Blatter is going to take place next year with the G-14 group of wealthy European clubs. They smell blood -- and more importantly, cash -- over the club-versus-country issue.

G-14 are demanding compensation from FIFA and UEFA for the time their players spend at major international tournaments like the World Cup and European Championships. They are seeking 3500 euros per player per day.

Blatter is refusing to acknowledge them. "They [G-14] are not a recognized organization and they do not represent the clubs. I will not speak to anybody from the clubs," Blatter said.

The underlying message from Blatter is: The big clubs are only concerned with pursuing their own narrow interests. I, however, speak for the whole of football.

The problem he faces is that G-14 actually have a very strong case. Countries such as Holland and Germany already pay clubs for the time their players spend on international duty. The sums of money are negligible, but the principle still applies.

G-14 want a response from FIFA and UEFA by Feb. 17 next year or they will launch a legal action. They have hired Jean-Louis Dupont, the lawyer who represented Jean-Marc Bosman in his landmark judgment in the European Court in 1995.

If it does end up in court, then the big question will be whether FIFA's sporting law (i.e. the right of federations to call up players for international duty) can be overruled by commercial law (i.e. the right of clubs to hold their players to their contracts).

Given that clubs have legally binding contracts with their players, it is no wonder that some G-14 members are saying privately that they will rip FIFA's case apart.

The sensible thing to do would be to sit down and talk. UEFA, having been burned by the Bosman case, are said to be more keen on compromise than Blatter.

But football's big problem is that there is no obvious forum to discuss these matters. Blatter, it seems, would rather do his talking in front of the cameras at press conferences, where nobody can answer back, than behind closed doors.

Since his election victory last year, Blatter has surrounded himself with advisors who dare not challenge him. They owe their positions and lifestyles -- the first-class air travel, the five-star hotels -- to Blatter.

The FIFA president now exists in a bubble of self-importance where everybody must come to talk to him. He will not meet anybody in a halfway house.

But for the good of the game -- Blatter's favorite phrase -- he must be prepared to decamp from the moral high ground.

Otherwise, he is heading for a fall.

Gavin Hamilton is editor of World Soccer Magazine. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.