Friday, October 13, 2006

Is Football Doomed?

UEFA, the European football/soccer governing body thinks it might. At issue is what liability exactly do national federations owe to the professional club teams when players are called up for national team duty? The issue has came to a head when Abdelmajid Oulmers was injured playing for the Moroccan national team in 2004. That injury deprived his club team and employer, Charleroi, of his services. Pissed about one of their prized employees getting broken, Charleroi sued FIFA (the international governing body). According to the BBC:

A Charleroi victory would mean clubs would become entitled to compensation while their players are away on international duty.
And that would wreck the international game, according to UEFA. The Brazilian federation, among others, probably couldn't afford to use their best players. Of course, maybe that will bump the US up in the game, given our bottomless pool of Nike money.

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