Europe, South America, Africa and the US are all experiencing difficulty off the field. Meanwhile, Asia and Australia are capitalising on their relative economic booms.
Economist Sav Savouri recently spoke about the financial situation of Greece, US, China and Australia.
Savouri is of the opinion that the Australia dollar will hit $1.70 against the US.
Furthermore, he told Australians to fear not, as our Asian neighbours will also experience similar, if not greater, growth in their currencies.
The general economic view is that Europe and the US will need to increase taxation and reduce spending to bring their budgets under control.
Now, stay with me as the connection to sport is coming in a moment, but as Asian currencies rise, growth takes place, thus improving the purchasing power of Asian currencies. Meanwhile, expected asset values in Europe and the US are falling.
Expected tax rates in England are already making many re-think the English Premier League.
When other European nations are forced to lift their tax rates, a question begs in the open, free market of football: where will the best go?
How will this affect football, union and league in Australia?
I have always held the view that Europe is over represented at the World Cup. When will Asia get more World Cup spots?
With money comes power. Asian will have money, so why, for example, should Demark and Norway be preferred to Indonesia and Malaysia?
For Australia and the A-League the financial boom provides future advantages we have never had before.
It’s worth remembering in the first A-League year the dollar hovered mainly between $0.70 and $0.80 cents to the US.
Australian tax rates have since fallen, whereas tax rates in Europe and the US are about to increase.
Thus, an Australian $100,000 contract with Australian tax rates has much more to offer than a few years ago.
Additionally Australia offers players a safe place and generally high employment, meaning that family and friends of a potential overseas player are well catered for.
As the Asian century grows and the influence of Asia grows, who will be the powerhouse nations in one hundred years?
I find it hard to believe the status quo will remain.
European powerhouses countries like Spain and Italy will struggle.
Real Madrid has been propped up for years by the Spanish government, as have of the top European clubs.
The big investors in the EPL and Europe are coming from the Middle East and Russia.
Asian has two thirds of the world’s population, with China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam having close to 1.8 billion people. They are all football-mad nations.
You can add India to that list, where football is not as far behind cricket as many seem to think.
My guess is that Asia will become the new powerhouse of football, but it will be a gradual process.
Australian tax rates and the future international purchasing power of the Australian dollar will have many willing to play in the A-League who would have never considered it before.
Moreover, Australian rugby will improve its ability to keep its best players from going to Europe. Maybe rugby league will be able to raid European rugby as well.
If we expanded this thinking to rugby the purchasing power of the Australian dollar and Australian tax rates will make raids from Europe on players less likely.
Arguably Australian rugby will be in a strong position to buy players from Europe.
Rugby league could also look to raid European rugby if the dollar raises to this degree and it can pull off its $1.2 billion media deal.
With money and economic growth coupled with massive populations power and influence will follow.
For sport in general this will be good for Australia.
For football, in particular, it could be very good indeed.
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