Solid transfer costs can soon be a thing of the past – where players the leaders want stars to have freedom to break their contracts for a fixed fee.
The Union FIFPRO of the International Players has accused FIFA of dragging its feet for new transfer rules after the European Court agreed that ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star Lassana Diarra illegally “fascinated” by the Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow ten years ago.
Great agents claimed that the statement of October was the first step in the direction of a 'free agency' in American style for players, with reimbursements are a thing of the past and stars that were only liable to pay the balance of their contracts when they change clubs.
Top clubs and FIFA fight against such a movement, while these summer Premclubs have already splashed £ 375 million before the entire market will be officially opened tomorrow.
But now FIFPRO has told stars and their lawyers to be ready to test FIFA to test and use European legislation to insist on freedom of movement.
FIFPRO -Legal chef Alexandra Gomez Bruinewoud said: “Every employee must have the right to terminate a contractual relationship.
“Knowing how much you have to pay as compensation is part of that right.
“Also, the fact that you leave your job should not prevent you from being hired in another job, what happened in football.”
Even the giants of the game can be forced in a major reconsideration of the consequences of a row of a row that was fueled in Moscow ten years ago.
Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Diarra may not have really had an influence on the prem in his four seasons, which brought only 44 top matches.
Nevertheless, the victory of Diarra at the European Court of Justice seems to be increasingly likely to change the way in which the transfer market works.
If FIFPRO is right, the result is that all players have the right to break their contracts.
It would be players who are worth £ 100 million on the open market that is suddenly available for a fraction of that amount.
Of course, new regulations will not be introduced this summer. FIFA hurried through a series of temporary transfer instructions, with terrible warnings for the “collapse” of the transfer market that unleashes “chaos”.
But FIFPRO does not remain convinced that the latest movements from Zurich meet the requirements of EU legislation.
An insider explained: “This could be in recent years of the inflated transfer costs that we have all seen.
“The European court has said that football must work within the EU legislation.
“Football is the Uitbijter. There is no other industry – except perhaps thoroughbred horses – where you see employees change ownership for millions of pounds and it is time for the game to be brought into the step.”
Gomez Bruinewoud added: “The judges in the Diarra case explained why the system was against the EU Act.
“I'm not afraid to say that the same FIFA rules are probably also against most national labor laws.”
Top players will benefit from higher wages and longer deals, although with finite budgets, that would mean less cash and shorter deals for players further in the pecking order – and limited job security in the lower layers.
Prem Club bosses are also afraid of the consequences, arguing the effective abolition of reimbursements would blow up the entire football pyramid, because money would no longer “drip”.
It is likely that, just like with the Jean-Marc Bosman-Rechtzaal Saga who turned European football upside down 30 years ago, it needs another player to be the test case to break the current system.
But it seems that challenge is a matter of time to be made. And with the backing of the players' association, the most fundamental change that the game has ever seen.