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Footballers must be made to honour their contracts

Roar Rookie
31st August, 2018
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Roar Rookie
31st August, 2018
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It is easy not to understand the excruciating and sometimes debilitating working conditions footballers in the past had to endure when all the modern-day fan knows is the lavish and flamboyance of the present-day footballers.

A cursory assessment of the effect of the ‘Bosman rule’ concludes that not only has it been a gift that has led to the improvement in the financial and negotiating power of footballers but it has also been a curse abused by some football stars.

When a player from your favourite local or international club starts moaning about not being shown the respect he feels he deserves – whether justified or conjured – and threatens to leave, in the worst case downing tools just to force a move, know that some years back he wouldn’t have dared to do so.

Two cases in recent times stand out. The first is Dimitri Payet, who as a result of his performance for West Ham in English Premier League 2015-16 was named in the Professional Footballers Association team of the season, and the second is Thibaut Courtois, a former Chelsea goalkeeper.

Payet, for one, is notorious for forcing transfers by going on self-induced exile or simply refusing to play after issuing a transfer request. After signing a five-and-a-half-year contract extension worth £125,000 ($225,000) a week in February 2016, one would have thought it was an indication of his intention to remain at West Ham.

Unfortunately football contracts these days are worth less than the paper on which they’re written.

Dimitri Payet celebrates

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had been angling for a move to Madrid for a major part of his second contract at Chelsea, first wooing Atletico Madrid with series of come-get-me statements. The ploy didn’t succeed because Atletico Madrid were more than comfortable with the performance of their Armenian goalkeeper, Jan Oblak.

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Real Madrid, who had put in a failed bid for Manchester United’s David De Gea in the botched 2016 deadline day farce, had constantly been linked with Courtois. They signed the Chelsea goalkeeper for a fee of £32 million ($57.65 million) in the current transfer window.

Courtois had a fantastic World Cup in Russia playing for Belgium and was also into the last year of his contract at Chelsea. Despite being free to open negotiations with any club side, Courtois went AWOL in order to force the move through. This in addition to the constant open expression of love for the city of Madrid didn’t help the situation. This led to the Chelsea fans turning on him with vitriol.

The attitude of some players with regard to their contracts makes a mockery of the Bosman ruling. It is true that a workman deserves his wages. A contract is also binding on parties. However, players resorting to sly tactics or a unilateral leave of absence in a bid force a move reinforces the fact that players have become too powerful and that something urgent needs to be done to stem the tide.

Yesterday it was Dimitri Payet. Today it’s Thibaut Courtois. Who is it going to be tomorrow?

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