Settle down, yeah the title sounds like I’m about to go on a racial rant, but that’s just not true, that will be in next weeks article.
No this space will be reserved for what has become a pick and choose policy of a sport that always tries to stress fairness and equality in the worlds game.
It is not to big of a secret that UEFA president Michel Platini has developed a disdain for big English clubs, in particular Chelsea. The amounts of spending done by the London Club has drawn the eye of Platini, who feel that spending like that damages the game. Manchester United and Manchester City especially could also ve clubs put in a similar context. After a large amount of spending over the past two summers, City has become one of the richest clubs in the world, and drew more stink eyes from Platini.
With all the tough looks EPL clubs get from Platini, you would think that big spending clubs from other countries would get similar bad vibes. Right? Well, not exactly. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have always been huge spenders, and rarely see any sort of disdain from UEFA or Platini. Madrid have paid big bucks in the past to bring in players like David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Zinedine Zidane
in the past, yet nothing came from UEFA. This summer, the club spent loads of money this summer Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso, and finally received backlash from Platini. Oh wow, here it comes. Madrid are finaly going to be put in their place. What will Platini have to say about Madrid? Well he says the “annoy” him. Annoying. That’s it? When Chelsea and Man City do it, its running the game. When Chelsea and Man City do it, special rules on where players are from needs to be put in. When Chelsea and Man City do it, there needs to be a wage cap, but when Madrid do it, its just “annoying”.
We have seen the latest’s chapter of UEFA cracking down on English clubs, and now Platini has gotten his boy, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, to help him in the cracking down on these English clubs, who of course are running the game by giving the world the best and most entertaining form of it. The newest part of their agenda? Placing a year long transfer ban on Chelsea FC. News broke early Thursday that the current FA Cup holders would not be allowed to bring in new players for the next two transfer windows, and would have to wait until January 1, 2011 to spend any more money.
The reason? Chelsea’s signing of Gaël Kakuta back in 2007 from French club RC Lens. The explanation is that Chelsea illegally tried to have then sixteen year old Kakuta break his contract at Lens to move to England. At the time, Kakuta was a member of Lens youth team, and had yet to make a first team appearance. As more information comes out, it looks as though Chelsea may have the ban completely taken off on appeal, if not reduced to one window. There has been a lot looking into UEFA rules against French rules regarding youth players. The problem with the ruling, especially if it has the little amount of support to stand on as it now seems, is Chelsea is far from the only team that does this.
Fellow English clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool have had strikingly similar situations, and other top clubs across the world are always the subject of rumor and innuendo dealing with shady transfers. Yet the biggest problem in all of this sits in the capital of Spain. It now dons a fresh white jersey with a number nine of the back. It gels its hair up and can score from any spot within 30 yards of the goal. OK maybe 40. Its name is Cristiano Ronaldo. Ever since CR-7 (now CR-9) and his red mates won the Champions League on a rainy night and eventually early morning in Moscow, Ronaldo was the subject of the biggest transfer saga of two summers. His move to Real Madrid had it all, big talks and big money. It had shouts of “he is 100% staying” a long with “he is 100% leaving” coming out of different mouths on the same day. It had a lot of trash talking and accusations of dirty tactics.
Well C-Ron is now Madrid, and even though Ronaldo was reportedly approached by Madrid before his the window was open last summer, nothing comes from FIFA and UEFA. No grand investigation, no transfer bans, no fines. Madrid can go on, using shady tactics and spending big an can get away pretty much clean and easy.
The reason FIFA came down on Chelsea is quite easy. Chelsea are one, an English team who have already caught wrath from a governing football body, and two, a team that has been known for spending big and trying its hardest to bring players in. No other clubs has irked people as much with its spending as Chelsea, even if clubs such as Man United and Real Madrid have signed away similar amounts of money. After last years Champions League Semi-Final, Chelsea have also arguably become the most hated club in the world, so FIFA knew if they wanted to go after one club for shady tactics, they might as well go against the one that will receive the least amount of sympathy.
The same thinking must have gone through similar minds when UEFA made its ruling last week on Arsenals Eduardo de Silva. Eduardo has been banned for the next two Champions League games for this dive in Arsenals playoff against Celtic:
While on second and third review, it does appear to be a dive, the question hast to arise: well why him?, why now? Why suspend Eduardo for what the likes of Drogba and Ronaldo get away with week in and week out. Why in this case is one of Arsenals top players banned for one third of their group stage matches. The seemingly double standard shown here by UEFA is puzzling, until you start to think.
Just as Chelsea are an English team known for big spending, Arsenal are an English team that have had a reputation of divers. Arsenal was playing what probably was the most high profile of all the playoff ties against Celtic, so what better way to for UEFA try and show people that they are against diving than to ban Eduardo. Just as FIFA knew that sympathy would be low for Chelsea, UEFA knew that not to many would shed a tear at after punishment to Arsenal for diving.
While the likes of Gilardino, Ronaldinho and the rest of the Italian National tea, can get away with it, in this case, Eduardo can not. Hell, even Steven Gerrard, pride of Liverpool and England won a EUROPEAN CUP with a dive, and nothing was said or done by UEFA.
The only way this decision makes sense is if UEFA gets serious about banning players. It has to be now at least two games for each dive, and even worse the more theatrical the divers get, My guess is that UEFA will look big now, but back down when the prospect comes of midweek games that do not feature some of the games biggest names. A Madrid-Liverpool matchup is not as tasty with no Ronaldo, no Torres and no Gerrard, and how would have the 2008 final had been if Rooney was not there for Man U, or Drogba wasn’t there for Chels- oh wait, never mind….
The point is, neither of these two rulings will be made again with any soprt of regularity in the future. UEFA and FIFA will pick and choose when to look strong, mostly against English clubs. Players and clubs, both English and abroad will get away with murder, until UEFA decides they want to punish somebody a long ways down the line. People like me will complain, others will applaud, and we will be back in the same boat. If UEFA and FIFA are committed to cleaning the game up, then I will take back most of what I have said here, if not, then these two punishments are really a testament to the strength of the EPL, and the ways that those who govern the game at a global stage will go to try and suppress a league that for some reason, they see as getting to big.
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