by Martin Sejas

The gulf between rich and poor clubs has never been greater. The amount of money circulating in the game has never been greater. The amount of players instantly becoming multi millionaires and buying fast cars and large mansions have never been greater. However, more sadly, the amount of clubs, especially ones with a lot of prestige and history behind them, going under have never been greater.

There’s always something wrong in seeing a football club, especially one which gets packed houses, struggle to break even and compete for a title. Just as the amount of money circulating has increased, the cost of staying in the game has increased as well.

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by Martin Sejas

This article gives a quick and concise rundown regarding the impending ‘6+5 rule’ FIFA President Sepp Blatter wishes to impose in football. Without further ado, here goes.

What?

The ‘6+5 rule’ is a rule by which all clubs have to field at least 6 domestic players every time they take to the field. For example, under this rule, a club from Russia must field at least 6 Russian-born players who are eligible or have played for the Russian national team. FIFA is looking to apply this rule universally, in all parts of the world, however, they could encounter problems with the European Union and its labour laws.

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by Martin Sejas

The last couple of years have seen a considerable reduction in the control massively rich football clubs have on the way football is run in Europe and in the rest of the world. The good news is that this has meant that many of football values have either come back or been reinforced and this largely thanks to FIFA and UEFA taking a stand. The bad news is there is still much left to be desired. Let’s go through the 2 big changes that have occurred since.

The first big change occurred in 2003, when UEFA eliminated for once, and for all, the second group stage of the UEFA Champions League. Put simply, the second group stage had been created to maximise the amount of revenue that participating clubs could get. More games meant more money. But more games also meant more player burnouts. It was an exercise in which the main losers were the players themselves.

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