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sport
today
The rich get richer.... and the gap
widens alarmingly
Talking football
Discussing football comes easy for Tony Formosa. The former Hibernians,
Sliema, Floriana, Valletta and Malta coach recalls different times.
There is a lot of money in football for some. Associations, clubs,
players, coaches and agents are making a bomb. But those in this
bracket are rather few. The gaps widen. If the present trend continues
there will be a few casualities.and that's for certain." Read
his interesting comments in this interview with RAY ABDILLA.
Football is a fascinating game. Despite the cosmetic changes the
game of association football has continued to remain as such for
many decades. But one and all cannot meet the present trends. The
appeal is universal, but it is very clear that we have ‘those
upstairs' enjoying the benefits of the current boom and the rest
who are struggling and may have to pack it in. An in-depth study
by national associations and clubs will not be amiss. The conclusions
will serve as an eye-opener.
Mr Formosa, an expert in football not only in the local scene but
also abroad believes that the gap is getting wider. Obviously the
rich associations and wealthy clubs are getting richer and richer,
but there are many others are struggling and facing serious problems.
Football is not merely concerned with the traditionally famous clubs
like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter, Man Utd, Arsenal,
and Bayern Munich and to a certain extent Ajax and PSV, he said.
The rest are relatively small associations and their member club,
the hundreds of thousands of non-professional clubs, which are millions
of participants. One has to assess the turnover of the powerful
wealthy clubs with budgets of hundreds of millions of Maltese Liri
and the rest who feature in national competitions and more often
than not struggle to make ends meet at times with debts and deficits
which are simply alarming.
Having said this, the question that is immediately asked is: so
where do we go from here? “I wish I knew the answer”,
Mr Formosa said”. What could help is the creation of a think-tank
formed of people possibly outside the game with no direct interest,
whose expertise could bring about practical suggestions which could
be feasible and effective. The game is so dynamic that unless the
hierarchy is ready to meet the challenges offered by the modern
day technology, which definitely influences our daily life, then
we might as well pack up”.
The former Malta coach said that many clubs are on the verge of
doing so and more will follow. That is the sad truth regarding the
present situation.
A brief history
"It was not all that long ago, when we referred to Frank Sinatra
as ‘The Voice', Marylin Monroe as ‘The Body', or when
Joe Frazier's clash with Muhammed Ali at Madison Square was dubbed
‘The Fight" or when Italy defeated Germany 4-3 in Mexico
as ‘The Match of the Century'.
He continued; "We did not know much about AIDS or the Madcow!
Going back a couple of decades when we were all a bit slimmer and
only the lucky few had the possibility of purchasing a colour TV,
we remember a simple game ,packed stadia, and everyone talked, watched,
argued and dreamt about football. That was the time when teams wore
simple plain colours, a few had a two-tone striped tops, all line-ups
numbered from 1 to 11 with five reserves on the bench forced to
don the 12-16 jerseys. The idea of having numbers helped to identify
the player. The referees and linesmen wore black"
And now?
"Now we have the players' name printed at the back and they
have a choice of numbers from 1 to 99! Admittedly, no one uses the
no.1 unless he is in goal. I still do not know why a player has
a number when he has his name printed on the team jerseys? The World
Cup finals in the US taught us that refs and assistant refs plus
a fourth official do not have to show that they are in perpetual
mourning and now have a choice of psychedelic tops"
Tony Formosa, one of the best tacticians the Maltese game has ever
produced, could not help talking about tactics. "There was
a time when because of the nomenclature given by Walter Winterbottom,
teams opted for a WM type of game which meant three defenders two
half-backs and two inside-forwards, with three strikers, two on
the flanks and a centre forward. Then we had a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 system,
zone or man-to-man tactics, whereas now we get a long list of permutations
and combinations ranging from 3-5-2,to 3-4-1-2; 4-5-1 to 1-3-4-2
to l-3-5-1 and possibly 4-6-0 or 10-0-0"
Tony Formosa emphasised that it is a fact that today's game offers
no time or space... and that the artist who used to make the ball
talk is becoming rather difficult to find.
The perks
Hundreds of thousand of full time professionals earn money from
football. The players, coaches, match officials, the administrators,
the technical staff all get paid for their services. The agents
get their percentages, while the multiplying factor is unlimited.
Just imagine the TV contracts, adverts, gates, sponsorships, commercial
rights, and you will soon conclude that several top class matches
bring about more than the State's annual budget of a number of countries.
Amazing!
Negative
But Mr Formosa also dwelt on the negative aspects of sport. Can
the powers that be ignore the racist chants and streamers, the violence
that keeps spreading. Cheating? Who mentioned false passports? Of
course, one must not forget the excessive wages, bonuses, the increase
in entrance tickets and the fact that the fans are at times grossly
ignored. "The fans keep the game going; it has become expensive
to watch a game of football.”
The commercial aspect
Some of the details, which made headlines recently, prove that the
commercial aspect of football knows no limits. "Four of the
12 clubs featuring in the US Major League Soccer, namely D.C. United,
Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy are owned by
one person, Philip Anschutz, who is the fourth richest man in the
States! How could this be possible?
Then you learn that as Bill Shankly of Liverpool fame once said
"Some say that football is a matter of life or death, but it's
more important than that." It is according to Birmingham City
managing Director Karren Brady who found out that organising funerals,
with coffins decorated with the club's crest, a blue and white wreath,
plus the scattering of ashes at St Andrews could raise funds for
Birmingham City FC !
The club also offers supporters Blues Telecom (cheaper calls) and
Blues Power (gas and electricity) besides mortgages, pensions, health
plans, ISAs, Internet access and credit cards!
Reference was also made to the multimillion-dollar deal signed by
M.U. and the Americans!
Publicity spots in Italy earn the clubs one hundred and twenty million
Maltese Liri besides an equal amount for the players involved in
these promotional stunts.
The top football managers such as Capello, Eriksson, Lippi, Cuper,
Ferguson, Hitzfeld, Fernandez and others are all on the million
plus mark. Players' wages and contracts mean that there are millionaires
on the field which their agents are laughing all the way to the
bank.
Figo, Crespo, Vieri, Anelka, Denilson, Battistuta... the list is
endless. "I think these are exceptions, not the rule. We simply
do not live in the same street. We'll never do," Mr Formosa
said with a smile.
Transfers
Naturally one recalls the Bosman Case and its effect on football
in general. It is not difficult to understand that the negotia-tions
featuring the EU, FIFA, UEFA and the professional players union
are so delicate. One then tends to start understanding what the
G-14, the group of top European clubs who between them won 65 European
trophies, can put a lot of pressure on any establishment.
The threat by the top Dutch, Scottish, Danish, Swedish, Portugese
and Belgian clubs to form an Atlantic League in July 2002 while
breaking away from their domestic leagues, could not be ignored."
Peter Fossen, director of PSV Eindhoven declared that "For
us it is a matter of survival. These are serious problems which
unless tackled immediately there will be a revolution in football
and not necessary for the better. The national teams have to be
considered. Players tend to put club before country and the friendly
matches staged recently should cause of few more discussions."
The local situation
"I will not be drawn into any arguments. Others may be in a
better position to assess the situation. Of course we have excellent
facilities; a unique professional scheme which has been in operation
close to twenty years and which has cost the MFA millions.
"Some argue that results should be a lot better; others complain
that the national team has been deserted by Maltese fans. The scheme,
results, attitudes and the fans' lack of interest should be studied.
There are always reasons why!
"The clubs still have their AGM and thanks to the commitments
made by Mr X and Mr Y, they reportedly go through six figure budgets!
I have no intention of telling anyone how to run his club or national
body; but there is no harm in commissioning an independent small
group of experts, mainly from the commercial sector, to present
an in-depth study. Others may have other ideas," he said.
“Listening to a number of national team players talking on
the small screen, one learns that the are several shortcomings and
complained about the fact that they need more attention and possibly
higher payments!
“Let's hope for better performances and results. The next fixture
is against Denmark later this month. One hopes for a better sense
of commitment.
"On a lighter note: there is a Frazier-Ali repeat... this time
it is Jacqui Frazier-Lyde vs Laila Ali.. thirty years on."
The show must go on but unless there are changes the future is bleak
to many.” |
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