Is Ronaldo being treated like a modern slave?

Portugal’s Christiano Ronaldo reacts after the drawn World Cup group 1 qualifying soccer match against Denmark at Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday Sept. 5, 2009. Portugal badly needed a victory in Copenhagen to have a realistic chance of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. The Portuguese team has won just two of its six qualifying matches and drew another.(AP Photo/Tariq Mikkel Khan/POLFOTO)

Cristiano Ronaldo believes FIFA president Sepp Blatter was right to controversially describe him as being treated like a “modern-day slave” by his former club Manchester United.

Ronaldo was responding to Blatter’s comments in which the head of world football insisted the player should be allowed to join Spanish giants Real Madrid if he wanted to.

“I completely agree with the FIFA president,” said the player. “The president is correct, but I do not want to say more.”

Ronaldo, a boyhood Real Madrid fan, had consistently been linked with a move to the Spanish capital since the previous season. The implication of the Bosman transfer law, which allows players to leave clubs if they have less than 6 months on their contract left, caused Blatter to wade into the protracted wrangle over the player’s future, saying that the current practice of tying players to long contracts amounts to “modern slavery.”

I think it’s disgusting to compare a multi-millionaire with a global cult following to a slave. It is pathetic and sad.

Maybe Blatter should focus on Africa and Asia and see what slavery really is, the stadiums being built in South Africa for the World Cup next year which is being built on cheap labour or the like.

Yet Blatter cast no attention to that.

In legal terms, if he has signed a contract and has to honour it. He wasn’t unhappy when he signed the extended contract with United last year, even when Real Madrid showed some interest.

No one held his hand when he put pen to paper on a five year contract which would make him the highest paid in all of England. It’s uncanny how more money can change your state of mind, from happy to unhappy.

I would love to see what Blatter’s reaction would be if someone tried to break a contract they had signed with FIFA. If the shoe was on the other foot, he would be the first to demand that the contract be honoured, regardless. Ronaldo signed on the line, he knew he was in it for long term.

It is obvious that today’s players have a lot more power than they did 20 years ago, undoubtedly, and agents have a lot more power than they did 20 years ago.

A well noted football commentator of the 80s once said, “In the 1980’s we’ll experience 70,000 a week wages, in the 90’s 90,000 and at the turn of the century, we will experience 100,000 a week wages.” How ironic is it that his guess is smaller than reality!

Ronaldo will be given a contract which allows him to earn 11 million pounds per season, on top of that, sponsorship and marketing ploys with Nike will earn him a whopping pay packet. Real Madrid themselves have even placed a 100 million insurance contract on Ronaldo should he suffer a career-ending injury.

Also, someone needs to take into consideration that people who are supposed to lead the world football governing body are speaking out and saying outlandish comments. Blatter should keep his opinions to himself.

Yet Blatter allowed the chance for me to highlight one point.

While he may be getting paid a lot, imagine if you signed up to a job for what you are worth then after a year of working there, you realise you are worth more and you don’t like the place you are working well in. By all your standards, you shouldn’t be forced to stay there against your will.

Putting things into perspective, no one should stay at a workplace that they were unhappy and why should he be the exception?

Players should go where their heart wants to go, without anyone foreboding them from doing so.