- Oct 19, 2004
- 39,837
- 50,713
That's right. But again, when the average price of each player is probably about £40m and growing it's not much of a penalty is it?
I think you're right, it has prevented bankruptcies.
I don't think it's done nearly enough to redistribute wealth though, which is not my politics speaking but an attempt to recognise the realities of the game. Without good facilities for young and amatuer players and as a consequence of that, without a healthy network of small local amateur, semi-pro and fully professional clubs everywhere, there would be no Real Madrid and the handful of others who sit safely at the top of the heap.
I don't know whether FIFA/ UEFA deliberately set out to preserve the status quo at the top, or whether it was an accidental effect of not thinking the whole process through from top to bottom, in the face of fierce opposition and influence from vested interests that must have made the job next to impossible. In either event, the effect has, I believe, been to reduce competition and that is bad for the game in the long run.
It was no accident:
https://forensiconions.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/the-fs-of-ffp/