Достоинства и недостатки футбольного закона Босман

Top players are too often seen as mercenaries seeking the biggest payday. The idea of club loyalty by players, or even a determination, above all else, to actually play rather than sit in the stands seems consigned to history. However, top players undoubtedly now have a great deal of power and benefit greatly from this new ruling. Those players playing at the highest levels can receive massive signing-on fees and much higher wages because of the absence of transfer fees.

I t is also supposed, that poorer clubs can also benefit by recruiting quality players on free transfers — or else by signing promising younger players on longer contracts. I n 1995 football agent Eric Hall claimed that: «Clubs will try to sign 17 or 18-year-olds on a seven or eight-year contract. I f these players are any good they will be sold at a nice profit.

T he smaller clubs will benefit". I n 1997 Watford’s Youth Development Officer Jimmy Gilligan believed that the outlook for promising young footballers was still a positive one. Y oung players are now being offered four, five, or even six-year contracts when they are just 16 or 17-years-old «If you’re good enough, someone will still want you. Those kids can still go to a big club» .

H owever, from the other hand, the game in the widest sense could be said to suffer because of the new Bosman freedom of movement for players. T his is because transfer fees used to be paid directly to the clubs. T

his money could be reinvested in playing talent — or else invested in stadium development, or a youth system, and so on. T he argument here was that money invested by clubs in developing players could at least remain in the game. I t would circulate between clubs, and thus help in maintaining the sport’s infrastructure.

T he new arrangements mean that the top players and their advisors now pocketed much of what was previously transfer money. So, a very large proportion of the new TV income in football actually ended up in players' salaries rather than as club profits — or money to plough back into the football business

Moreover, the general idea is that smaller clubs within the Football League would undoubtedly suffer most. Although signing players on long contracts would mean they would still get a transfer or compensation fee if sold within the player’s contracted period, many top English clubs are now looking elsewhere for footballers, especially to continental Europe. The effects of Bosman are also blamed for rising wages in the Football League, especially among clubs relegated from the FA Premier League.

A lthough lower-division football clubs need more financial support following the loss of some transfer fees and TV income, they still do have their fans. F ro instance. two Queens Park Rangers fans set up a company to help their own club buy footballers in the future. B rothers Alex and Matt Winton come from a family of QPR supporters and own the Ghost fashion label.

T hey raised £250,000 to sign Charlton Athletic defender Daniel Shittu in January of 2002. T hey also agreed with the club to pay a year’s accommodation and wages for their new forward Doudou. T hey have recently set up a company entitled 'Weareqpr.plc' aimed at getting supporters to raise money for future signings. Alex Winton argues that within the next 10 years approximately 50% of lower football league clubs will go the same way due to changes in the transfer system such as the Bosman ruling.

The chances available to some young English players may be more limited now because the Bosman ruling and the influx of foreign footballers may mean fewer opportunities for local youngsters to make the grade. Young footballers may believe that if they start at the bottom they will be able to work their way to the top, but top managers also argue that too many young footballers within the lower divisions are over-priced; the introduction of a cheaper, proven foreign footballer is often more attractive for the FA Premier League clubs. Players towards the end of their careers can also benefit from the Bosman ruling — but it may also mean them 'sitting out' contracts with little chance of first team football.

However besides these abstract deliberations about the effects of the Bosman ruling, involving club and federation officials and the average spectator, there are already a number of academic researches on the theme. Despite the fact that almost all academic research on the ruling initially focused on the market for players, we have found a number of works investigated the impact of a Bosman ruling on club and national teams. Kesenne theoretically examines the effects of the Bosman on club teams within and across countries and his model predicts that more talented players will flow to the countries with the bigger markets for club soccer, increasing the disparity between club teams across countries. However, the competitive balance within countries, defined as the variability in strength across clubs within a country, is not really affected.

Moreover, Binder has conducted a little empirical analysis of post-Bosman impact on national and club teams in Europe. According to his work, while some national teams are negatively/positively affected by Bosman, the average effects on the Big Six countries and other European nations are fairly small. Certainly the Big Six as a whole have not been negatively affected.

At the club level, there was little evidence that the domestic leagues have become more stratified. That is, imported players have gone to a variety of clubs, not just the top teams, preserving the competitiveness of the various leagues. The clubs have become more stratified across countries with teams from the Big Six more heavily dominating the Champions League since the decision in Bosman. The free flow of players has, however, turned the Champions League, and some of the domestic leagues, into virtual super leagues, showcasing a number of «all star» teams which has the desirable effect of greatly increasing interest in the game worldwide.

Thus, considering all above mentioned we can say that negative effects of the Bosman appear to be fairly small. Furthermore, they must be balanced against the ruling’s positive effects, including those on the market for players and interest in soccer around the world.

Conclusion

The massive impact that the Bosman ruling has had on the sport and on player loyalty, cannot be underestimated. The richest clubs continue to buy the best players, of course, but now the scope for their spending is truly global. In 2002, high profile FA Premier League signings came from Senegal, Nigeria, China, Japan and Turkey. Players are more free to move from club to club — and across national boundaries — than at any other time in the game’s history.

F inally, perhaps the greater mobility of foreign football talent will also make us rethink our attachments and views of national teams. T he growing international basis of top club sides has lead some commentators to question the validity of national team football at all. A

fter all, Juventus could now beat Italy and Arsenal could probably do the same to England. B ut increasing player mobility may actually have strengthened national team attachments. F ans of French football, for example, now have to wait to see their stars assembled in the French national team: most top French players play outside France these days.

S upporters of Senegal are arguably likely to identify more strongly with their own stars in the national team now more are playing at the highest European level. M eanwhile, in England, club fans have more than just the England team to cheer: they can also follow their club favorites playing for countries around the globe.

A lessoning of exclusive nationalist favor might actually be a rather good thing in the new 'global' age for football.

Bibliography

Kesenne S. The Peculiar International Economics of Professional Football in Europe // Scottish Journal of Political Economy 2007, 388−399

Binder J. The Effects of the Bosman Ruling on National and Club Teams in Europe. / University of Illinois (Chicago), 2009

Blanpain R., Inston R. The Bosman Case. / Sweet & Maxwell: London, 1996

McArdle D. From Boot Money to Bosman: Football Society and the Law. / Cavendish: London, 2000

Williams J. A game for rough girls?: a history of women’s football in Britain. / Routledge: London, 2003

Web-sources

www.wikipedia.org