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Transfer trouble FIFA's transfer proposal presents potential problems
What on earth is FIFA thinking? Football's world governing body it may be, but all-omnipotent oracle on soccer it most definitely is not. UEFA, its European counterpart, has every right to be seething after the carelessly unilateral way in which FIFA presented its proposal package to the European Union on soccer transfer changes. And what changes. A blueprint which gives elite players the opportunity to leave a club after just three months is tantamount to soccer suicide. Giving footballers all-too-convenient excuses to leave a club is also a mistake. The FIFA proposal suggests a player can make a sharp exit for such reasons as not liking club policies or coach and if he feels he's spending too much time on the substitutes bench. Can you imagine it? Let's use David Beckham as an example, because he's due to renegotiate his contract with Manchester United. Just suppose United come close to meeting his salary demands and he becomes the richest player ever in Britain, not to mention one of the wealthiest anywhere in the world. And let's suppose the England captain signs a five-year deal, which is what United are believed to want. Six months down the road, if Beckham thought he'd made a mistake in re-signing for United, he could up and leave under FIFA's proposals -- simply by falling out with the coach or insisting club policies offend him. Okay, so I'm being simplistic in the extreme. But you get the point. The whole concept angers me as a follower of the game, but I'll leave the more well-placed fury to UEFA President Lennart Johanssen, who said: "I am furious. We will not be easy to deal with...with all due respect for FIFA and its President Sepp Blatter, they lack knowledge about club football...we are better at cub football." The gloves are off, the meetings in Switzerland between the soccer powers will determine the way forward. One thing is certain. Change there will be. The EU insists on amending the current transfer system, claiming it violates European laws.
But the change needs to be more carefully thought out so that players are not the all-powerful figures in the future scenario, potentially riding roughshod over the greater good of the clubs or the game itself. Otherwise, top players will have clubs infinitely staring down both barrels, making team loyalty an ever more distant memory. Hewitt hopes for win in Aussie OpenFist-pumping, chest-thumping and shouting. Lots and lots of shouting. That's the Lleyton Hewitt way Down Under. He's Australia's great hope for their first Aussie Open men's champion since Mark Edmondson in 1976. He's brash and pugnacious, but oozes tennis talent. At the back-end of last year, Spain's Alex Corretja publicy condemned Hewitt's on-court antics before the Masters Cup in Portugal. In effect, Corretja thought Hewitt was rude and tried to belittle opponents. I'm not sure I agree, but don't much care anyway because I honestly like to see Hewitt in full obnoxious flow. I like that he wears his heart on his sleeve, that he ignites love or hatred from the other side of the net or the packed grandstands. I like that he brings a level of emotion to the men's game which has been so sorely lacking for many years. And I like that he has the shots to back up the cockiness. Simply stated, Hewitt is downright fun to watch -- and since when has that been a bad thing ? Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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