FIFA President Sepp Blatter compares contracts to "modern slavery"
SOCCER DAILY
He says players such as Cristiano Ronaldo should be able to get out of their deals with teams easier if they desire to play elsewhere.
What unspeakable gall the man has.
We are speaking of Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, the president of FIFA, who once again has stuck his nose into places it doesn't belong.
Manchester United's battle to hold on to Cristiano Ronaldo -- whose contract runs through 2012 and makes him one of the world's highest-paid players -- amounts to nothing more than "modern slavery," Blatter loftily proclaimed.
Blatter, soccer's supposedly most powerful figure -- even though he is regarded in many circles as more of an interfering buffoon than an innovative leader -- argued that Ronaldo, 23, should be allowed to join Real Madrid if that's what he wants.
"I think in football there is too much modern slavery, transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere," Blatter said in an interview with Britain's Sky Sports. "And we are trying now to intervene in such cases."
Why? What business is it of FIFA's if Manchester United, with Ronaldo's signature firmly affixed to the contract he signed in 2007, wants to hold the Portuguese star to his word?
"If the player wants to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found," Blatter said.
In other words, to quote Carlos Queiroz, Manchester United's assistant coach, "contracts are becoming meaningless."
Queiroz, incidentally, is supposedly on his way out at United because he is the top candidate to replace Luiz Felipe Scolari as Portugal's national team coach. He has backed Ronaldo's wish to play for Real Madrid.
The Spanish club reportedly has dangled a tax-free $600,000-a-week offer in front of Ronaldo, a figure that makes his current $250,000-a-week salary seem paltry by comparison.
Having heard Blatter's comments, Ronaldo, who has said he dreams of playing for Real Madrid, was quick to take advantage.
"I completely agree with the statements of the president," he said Thursday in Portugal, where he is recovering from right ankle surgery. "He is right. You know what I said, what I want and what I would like. Now I have to wait and see."
According to England's Telegraph newspaper, Manchester United is trying come up with a new contract that would substantially increase Ronaldo's salary and tie him to the reigning English and European champion until 2014.
But again, it is only a contract, and under FIFA's rules he would be free to buy himself out of it somewhere down the road.
