BIG BUCKS AND BATTERED EGOS

A look into how the world of sports is being influenced by Money

As the years pass by, the world of sport is being engulfed by the power of money. The pride and the passion with which sport was once associated with, is now being superseded by the wads of cash and the humongous pay cheques. In fact, one can rightly say, the sporting world is now moving into a money-spinning overdrive.

When we talk about the big bucks, the first name that comes to our mind is ……………… yes you guessed it, Mr. Roman Abromovich. The Russian billionaire (oligarch) sparked off the ‘takeover’ revolution in English football. As it was rightly pointed out, he indeed pumps out oil in Russia and pumps in money at THE BRIDGE. He along with Peter Kenyon and Jose Mourinho are guilty for luring and eventually signing players at walloping prices and fat pay-cheques added to that. Manchester United and Liverpool have also followed the takeover path, but not to such extreme state of bribery. The owner ship of Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra is another piece of controversy with the Thai getting drowned in accusations of corruption back in his homeland. Many believe he has used this illicit money to storm his away into the Board at Eastlands. His exit is imminent I guess.

Couple of seasons back, West Ham United they tried to sign ‘anyone’ from ‘anywhere’ as the pundits called it and do the miracle act of staying in the Premiership. And one of their acquisitions in the process was Lucas Neill, who proclaimed in due course that he had in fact rejected an offer from Liverpool. If it was for the passion to play at Upton Park, one could agree, by Neill had blatantly revealed that West Ham offered 20000 pounds a week more (Yes…. It’s per week), which he rated higher than playing for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Leo Tolstoy had written – ‘God Sees the Truth but Waits’. In this case God didn’t need to wait. Lucas Neill got injured even before he had a chance to play for the Hammers.

The David Beckham sage never ceases to stop. The football’s global icon had decided to part with Real Madrid and join LA Galaxy (LA … who????). The British tabloids believe there were two reasons behind Beckham’s cross-Atlantic journey.. One, the mind boggling $50 million a year offer from Galaxy (he must be counting his lucky STARS in the Galaxy board room), approximately a million a week. (Apparently the most highly paid player in the best league in the world that is the EPL Michel Ballack earns just a quarter of this). Two, Posh Spice aka Victoria Beckham might find Los Angeles better than the lowly Madrid for her business interests.

John Obi Mikel’s main contribution thus far was to earn $12 million for Man Utd. He plays for Chelsea though The Nigerian teenager had complained to FIFA that he was forced into initially signing for United against his personal wishes. Although his wish was granted, United had to be paid the compensation. But the past masters at spotting talent have to be Arsenal. They sign players from the academies of other clubs at high prices, but are long term investments. Believe it or not they paid $20 million for young Theo Walcott. So was the case with Fabregas, Denilson and van Persie. The power of money never fails to lure the players. And all this to play in the reserve leagues, at a time when they had to refine their skills playing first team football. It’s a pity to see young talented players wasting their formative years in benches across the clubs in Europe.

The year 2006 saw the worst scandal to rock football, which was the match-fixing fiasco which rocked the Italian Serie A. AC Milan and Juventus were found guilty of bribing referees and other match officials. Although necessary punishment was put out later, the potency of greenbacks had made its scar.

Soccer is not the only sports which has had the match-fixing scandals. It has raised its ugly head from time to time in cricket too. The likes of Cronje, Azharuddin and others surely brought the game into bad reputation.

Every year the annual contract which the Indian as well as various other boards hand out to their players end up in a spat. There are contrasting opinions about the unequal pay system. But, if a flat pay system is employed, wouldn’t a sportsman with 15 years experience be treated on the same scale as a debutant??

The issue of money never dies away and has affected each and every sport. A couple of years back, an entire season of the NHL (Ice Hockey) was wiped out because of pay disputes between the players’ union and the Franchises.

The issue of referees and match officials entering into gambling has also sent shock waves in all directions. This is even more pathetic as many instances have been reported in which they have been directly involved in. It will surely take some convincing to believe that these officials can not in any way influence the results of the game.

And so, I feel it’s high time that the players need to ask themselves – is it the passion for the sport, or the pride of your team or nation that drives them, or bigger and fatter pay-cheques. Sport has now culminated into a market and the business has grown deep roots into the game. A complete wipe out of such menace may seem far fetched but the time has come for some urgent cleansing action. I would like to conclude with the words of former Liverpool captain and England International Steve McMahon – “Yes, finally the players are being paid well after years of confrontation. But now, sport has created far too many cheap millionaires."