🧑‍⚖️ Players’ secret clause

GM Football Fans. On this day in 1910, Old Trafford staged its first match when Manchester United met Liverpool in the First Division. The stadium was originally named ‘United Football Ground’… not so catchy.

In today’s email:

• The spectacular clause that stops footballers from being punished 🧑‍⚖️

• Matchweek 25 results and fixtures 🔥

• Doped up: European football’s dirty secret 💊

• Extra time: Glenn Hoddle was beyond description 😯

THE BIG IDEA

The spectacular clause that stops footballers from being punished

You wouldn’t get paid if you refused to show up at work. And if you continued to not show up, the lady from HR would invite you to a meeting and say something like:

“We really like you kid, but you messed up, so we have to let you go.”

But if a professional footballer doesn’t turn up to training, they still get hundreds of thousands.

Not fair, right? We thought so too.

So, we asked top lawyers why this was the case.

What happens when a footballer does something wrong?

You know…

• They throw a party before a big game.

• They’re subbed and give the manager the finger.

• They say “My teammates are s**t” and “I want to play for the top of the league, not this bunch”. 

Well, clubs often deal with disciplinary situations swiftly and have standard punishments at their disposal.

 “Footballers have clauses in their contracts to deal with player breaches and invite the player to a disciplinary hearing so that the club can seek to deal with them on a proportional basis,” said Warren Heyman, Head of Sports Law at Blackstone Solicitors, told Route One.   

OK. Simple enough.

When a player accepts wrongdoing, they get a slap on the wrist. Most likely two-week wages. Everyone moves on. Case closed.

But…

… what if a player doesn’t accept that they’ve done anything wrong?

They’ll appeal the club’s punishment.

Then, boom, media uproar ensues: the player is likely made to train alone, be ousted from the first team, and they’ll likely share a few encrypted social media posts…

… but that’s the least of the club’s worries.

Whilst the player is appealing the disciplinary action, they’re entitled to receive full pay.

Yes, you read that right.

“During any appeal period, the sanction will be suspended until the appeal is determined and the player will continue to be paid during this time,” said Christine Caffrey, Employment and Data Protection Solicitor at SA Law.

Here lies the difference between ordinary contracts and footballer contracts as you and I don’t benefit from the same luxury.

 “This is quite different to a typical employment scenario whereby a sanction will apply from the point of the decision and therefore if you are dismissed you will not be paid during an appeal process,” Caffrey added.  

The bottom line: As players grow in value, and talent becomes more scarce, they will continue to push traditional employer/employee boundaries. And who knows what this will lead to: ownership? decision-making? share of profits?

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

Doped up? European football’s dirty secret

Last week, we showed that the Champions League was the most popular sport in the world.

With so many eyes on the competition, how can it keep such a big secret?

The claim

On the Stick to Football podcast, Gary Neville and Roy Keane accused some opponents they faced in the Champions League of doping. They especially think it was the Italian teams that weren’t clean. 

“We played certain teams, I would be walking off and would be absolutely shattered. I would be looking at the players I played against, a couple of Italian teams, and they looked like they’ve not even played a match,” Keane said.

Is there any truth to this?

Unfortunately, yes. While it might seem like the Manchester United legends are just bitter that they lost out on a few trophies, there is a history of European clubs failing doping tests…

• Between 2001 and 2002, Pep Guardiola among others tested positive for a banned substance, Nandrolone. The Spaniard blamed Dr Ramon Segura - stating that he only ever took what the doctor made for him. 

• Arsene Wenger famously believed that cheating was widespread in football for decades and demanded in-competition blood testing. 

• In 2004, Juventus’ doctor Riccardo Agricola was jailed for providing a performance-enhancing drug. The banned drug was EPO which ultimately increases oxygen transport and endurance. 

The worst part? Juventus rehired Dr Agricola in 2017 and Guardiola rehired Dr Segura for Barcelona in 2009.

The problem is that…

… people don’t view doping seriously in football because a drug “doesn’t help you pass better.” While that might be true, the game is becoming more physical - where doping will come in handy of course.

Even in the Premier League, doping hasn’t been taken seriously. A report last year found that The FA and UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) have a “lax testing programme”, with doping tests declining since 2017. 

A damning picture of the beautiful game.

TRENDING

EXTRA TIME

There have been a lot of last-minute winners this season. The Premier League has combined them all in this 3-minute clip.

Some players are beyond description. Glen Hoddle was one of those players, and this goal against Watford proves it.

Sunderland manager Michael Beale ignored his player after subbing him off this weekend. But Beale insisted that he hadn’t noticed the player… we’re not so sure.

Kalvin Phillips hasn’t had the best start to life at West Ham. This Hammers fan made his opinion of the transfer very clear.

MEME