Zut Alors!
In the year in which we celebrate – yes that is the right word – the centenary of the entente cordiale between Britain and France, we have been alerted to a disturbing threat to the peace.
On the day that that rugby’s premier pan-European club competition - the Heineken Cup - kicks off, there are rumbling of discontent from the English ranks. Your see it appears that the French have the upper hand because of a helping hand in the till.
Here’s the score. Leading French clubs play in municipally owned stadiums on which they pay rent. What they’ve not had to do is stump up the cost of building or improving the venues in the first place. Contrast that to the money spent by England’s major clubs - either on their own stadia or in partnership with soccer clubs – since the dawn of professionalism. Consequently the French clubs are better-off.
But wait; there’s more. French clubs are also unshackled by the £1.9 million salary cap under which their English opponents operate. They are also able to offer players a range of un taxed perks such as accommodation and cars.
So when a French club decides it wants to acquire a player the deal runs along these lines : Lots of money, a Peugeot and an apartment in the hinterland of, say, Toulouse where the agreeable climate and fruits of local viniculture seem fair recompense for getting stamped on by a bunch of big French blokes every weekend.
Unfortunately this is proving a rather more tempting proposition than the small share of the salary pot, bus pass and shared flat on the outskirts of Watford one is led to believe is on offer at some English clubs.
The French have always been creative when it comes to inducing players to their clubs. Way back in the amateur days of the 70s one England international was only too happy to swap his home club for the good life in mid France, ostensibly funded by his gratis share in a fruit machine business.
There is, of course, a wonderful irony here.
England, the reigning World Champions in rugby are worried that some of their best players will be lured to French clubs by the prospect of big money and good times. In theory this could seriously hit the development of the domestic club game which has simply galloped ahead in recent years.
What is emerging is a reverse parallel to the soccer universe where France has recently been World and European champion but all of whose best players earn their living abroad. Mostly, it sometimes appears, at Arsenal, where manager Arsene Wenger – a Frenchman of course – has brilliantly identified the flowering youth of French football and bought it a one-way Eurostar ticket.
As a result, the French domestic league is a shadow of its potential self and there remains a danger that, despite the size of the market, it will continue to exist simply as a feeder for the premier League and Serie A.
In every walk of life money talks. In rugby and football it seems to be particularly fluent in Franglais.
More than anything, these issues draw attention to the role and applicability of salary caps in sport. Aside from any legal issues – and there are plenty of lawyers straining at the leash in anticipation of making a challenge – all the evidence is that they simply don’t work where there is an international labour market. In principle a salary cap is an equaliser, a means of establishing and maintaining competitive balance by ensuring that clubs have the same ability to attract and retain players.
Now that may be fine in the United States and Australia where players in the NFL or AFL simply have nowhere else to go. But in the liberal sporting free markets of Europe a salary cap may be necessary for a limited period to help establish a sport gather the strength of appeal to have commercial clout, but beyond that they are redundant.
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Few sports have had as many labour problems as Major League Baseball where the discrepancy in salary bills between the big guns and the minnows is akin to the GDP divide between the Japan and the Galapagos Islands.
But this week, in a story which underscores that the continuing appeal of sport lies in its uncertainty, the biggest guns of all have been topples in spectacular style. In an unparalleled demonstration of the art of choking, the New York Yankees threw away a 3-0 lead in their play-off against the Boston Red Sox to loose the series 4-3. Although the Sox are not exactly on skid row themselves, their achievement in becoming the first team to recover from a 3-0 deficit was all the sweeter for the bitter rivalry between the two clubs and, indeed, cities. Money can buy you most things but not, it seems, a place in the World Series.
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Congratulations to the organisers of the Madrid Open for their far-sighted decision to use models as ball persons. This is a breath of fresh in sport and an example which should be followed wherever possible. Not every model makes a fortune and the extra money will help out. For girls normally confined to catwalks and nightclubs the fresh air will undoubtedly be beneficial.
I trust other sports clubs and event organisers will take note and look forward to seeing Kate Moss retrieving balls from the Holmesdale stand at Selhurst Park tomorrow afternoon.
