Money talks
According to Spanish TV station La Sexta, Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao has agreed terms on a 60 million euro move to Monaco.
The report suggests Falcao has agreed terms on a deal with the Ligue 2 outfit worth 10 million euros a season. If true, such a handsome salary will enable him to become one of the richest people in Colombia, who is not involved in the drugs trade
The financial situation in Monaco is interesting. Backed by the billions of Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, the club can certainly afford to pay such a ludicrous salary. But it does raise an issue about their role within French football and highlights the possible inconsistencies of Financial Fair Play rules.
Every club based in France has to pay taxes to the French government and every player must do likewise. In theory, all players earning more than 1 million euros will be taxed 75 per cent of their salary. In contrast, Monaco, which is a tax haven and levies no tax on its residents, will be able to pay its players at a huge inflated salary relative to its rivals.
To offer Falcao 10 million euros a year, Paris Saint-Germain would have to pay him not 10 million but 40 million!
TV rights and wrongs
Sevilla president José María del Nido has again spoken out against the Spanish Football League (LFP), blaming it for creating the economic difficulties Spanish clubs now face.
“Football is going through a delicate situation that indicates that come clubs might end up disappearing. The credibility of professional football is at stake. If this doesn’t end in the LFP forcing clubs to obey their rules, we wouldn’t be talking about a complicated situation but practically a ‘technical bankruptcy’ from an accounting point of view,” said del Nido.
The lack of competitiveness in La Liga is blindingly obvious, del Nido said.
“It’s as much a reality as two plus two is four,” he continued.
“We’re last in the world and as TV distribution rights go, we are the most unfair.” 56% of the total income goes to Real Madrid and Barcelona the remaining 44% is divided in between the other 18 clubs in La Liga.
The Sevilla man highlighted the fact that the biggest earning club in Spain received twelve times more than the lowest earning club. He compared La Liga to the English Premier League where Manchester United earn just double the the amount of the team finishing bottom.
“What I think we should do is centralise the television rights and introduce a more efficient process of sale,” he said.
“Let’s hope the LFP defend all our interests, as a whole, and not just the interests of a minority, Madrid and Barcelona.”
I suspect the final remark was said more in hope than expectation.
Conte to eclipse Capello
Fabio Capello believes the present Juventus side can beat the record points total achieved by his 2005-06 team, but claimed it was harder back then.
Capello’s champions in 2006 managed a club record 91 points before being stripped of the Scudetto and demoted to Serie B as part of the Calciopoli investigation.
If Antonio Conte’s champions win their last two games then they will end the campaign at the top of the table with 92 points.
“Conte’s Juve can beat the record of my Juve,” Capello told Sky Sport 24. “They can certainly do that – they have no rivals in this League.
“As I’ve said before, this is not the Serie A of the past. Great players once came to Italy, now they go elsewhere.
“Look how many places Italy has lost in the rankings against the likes of German, English and Spanish clubs.”
A valid point, but it has to be said that Capello’s side did receive a helping hand from some hand picked match officials.
Sense of perspective
It’s rare for someone involved in top level sport to have a sense of perspective, but Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes may well be one such person.
Heynckes, who remains on course to win an unprecedented treble this season, was responding to Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, description of him as the club’s very own Special One.
The 68-year-old said that public service men and women are the people who deserve such a tag.
“Other people are doing more special things than me,” he told reporters. “Carers, firefighters, ambulance workers, people who sacrifice themselves and soldiers in Afghanistan who have lost their lives or been injured in physically or mentally – these are special people.
“Sure, we have had a special season, which is very satisfying, but I have a more sophisticated view on life.”
Testing positive
According to Dutch news reports, 16 ADO fans had to be rushed to hospital during the club’s 2-0 win over Feyenoord after falling ill and passing out in the stands.
The match may not have been a classic but surely it wasn’t that bad. In fact, there was more to it than that, with toxicity tests showing all 16 were found to have ingested large amounts of cannabis.
It transpired that the supporters had all eaten pieces of a “hash cake” that was served up in their corporate box, though quite how this appeared on the menu remains unclear.
Local newspaper Omroep West reported: ”How the space cake ended up in the skybox is unclear. [It is unknown whether] it was a malicious action or a failed joke. According to ADO Den Haag, the catering was not provided by the club.
“Police have taken the remains of the cake away for research, but won’t disclose any details at present. The hospital also remains tight-lipped about the case.”
A spokeswoman for the Dutch club added that companies which hire the boxes at the stadium on match-days are entirely responsible for providing their own food.
Goal of the day
This is not your typical opportunistic goal from the halfway line; you know, the one where the keeper has strayed too far from his line and watches helplessly as the ball sails over his head. No, this is Deportivo Quito’s Alex Colon lashing one in from the best part of 50 yards, with the Cuenca keeper beaten for pace as much as anything else.
Quote of the day
“…”
In an apparent attempt to defuse the war of words between coach Jose Mourinho and members of his squad, Real Madrid opted for a vow of silence and postponed Friday’s press conferenence.
Cry me a river
Acting like a man who’s just discovered his wife has been having an affair with his best friend, Everton chairman Bill Kenwright appears distraught at the prospect of losing David Moyes to Manchester United.
Kenwright, a former actor it should be noted, draws deeply on his thespian skills to express surprise and dismay at Moye’ decision to leave Everton after 11 years. This despite the existence of a new contract that had lain unsigned in Moyes in-tray for the past 6 months.
“It’s been an extraordinary 24 hours – one which I wasn’t prepared for yesterday morning,” said Kenwright, somewhat unconvincingly.
Art imitating life
Lionel Messi’s life is to be made into a film after a Los Angeles production company bought the rights to a biography of the Barcelona star.
The film is set to focus on Messi’s childhood in Argentina and treatment for growth hormone deficiency, before depicting his on-field successes.
Epic Pictures Group hopes to finish the film in time for the 2014 World Cup.
“The goal is to make a powerful and positive film that will leave audiences feeling inspired to go after their dreams no matter how impossible they may seem,” chief executive Patrick Ewald told Variety magazine.
The film will be based on Luca Caioli’s book ‘Messi‘, which features interviews with the player’s former coaches, family and team-mates, as well as the man himself.
Finally…
Over ten thousand Bursaspor fans attended the funeral procession of İbrahim Yazıcıheld at the Bursa Atatürk stadium in respect of their recently deceased club president.
Members of the government including Vice-Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, Bursa Governor Şahabettin Harput, MHP General Secrety İsmet Büyükataman also attended the funeral. Turkish club presidents including Fenerbahçe Presidet Aziz Yıldırım, Trabzonspor President Sadri Şener, Gençlerbirliği President İlhan Cavcav, İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor President Göksel Gümüşdağ were also present.
Bursaspor players wore black t-shirts with an image of Yazıcı printed on the front, while the supporters waved many banners, one of the most striking of which had the message: “Tell our loved ones in heaven how you won us the league title.”
Yazıcı transformed Bursaspor bringing about the clubs golden age during which time they broke the dominance of the Istanbul clubs and won the Turkish Super League title for the first time in 2009.
The former president also was responsible for pushing through the nearly complete 45,000 seater Timsah Arena. Yazıcı passed away on Tuesday as a result of heart failure aged 65.
