Does Soccer need a Salary Cap?

[carn_the_nmfc]

With all the money problems that Leeds United seem to be having, do you think that Soccer should have a Salary Cap so that they can keep track of all the money and don't go over a particular amount of money.

 

[Shinboners]

Okay, let's see if any of you can forget about who started this thread, and instead, argue the issue at hand.

Does soccer need a salary cap?

 

[The invisible mullet]

How do you Claudio Reyna these teams in?

The difficulty is where you set the salary cap for a team at in this current environment. I think the pressure coming from the big sides would mean it would have to be reasonably hefty. anyway as much to blame as player salaries have been some of the ridiculous transfer deals Leeds and others have been guilty of and the fat that has grown in the admin structures of these clubs. the streets in Leeds were it seemed paved with gold.

 

[GOALden Hawk]

It works in the AFL because there is no alternative. A player that has his earnings restricted by the cap can't just nick off to the SANFL or New Zealand League and earn an equilivalent amount (or more).

Unless all European leagues agree to it I can't see it happening, and even then where do you draw the line? If you make it in the middle of the EPL teams like Man U and Arsenal will have millions sitting around idle every year, whilst teams like Leicester still couldn't pay it anyway.

And there is still no draft process to help out the weaker clubs. It might stop the big clubs from signing gun after gun, but it wouldn't make it any easier for the minnows to get the next Ronaldo, Rooney or Sinama-Pongolle.

 

[The invisible mullet]

Sinama-Pongolle is a great name. Unfortunately a draft system won't work in soccer although I'd love to see Owen go to Darlington Town in the pre-season draft. Even better would be Draft for managers.

Interestingly the teams that rely on their youth academies are the ones that are better placed to rebound. Nottingham Forest has been in deep do-do but its reliance on its academy rather than expensive imports is starting to pay off. Whether these teams end up being feeder clubs for the Man yoos or are able to get back up there is an issue though.

 

[the fly]

The only way a salary cap would work is if it was invoked by FIFA for all major football leagues as it would stop players from moving to a clubs in other countrys to get around it.

 

[Borgsta]

No it definately doesnt need a salary cap. Sorry but it really is a stupid idea. This being because teams that are in the Champions League NEED more players than teams outside it. They play almost twice as many games in some cases, and with a cap their players would be dead.

Ps. To blame player salaries on Leeds problems is also stupid. Leeds bought players at ridiculous prices and then sold them a lot cheaper within a year. They also banked on making the Champions League every year and getting the extra 20 million pounds that comes with that. They made sooooo many mistakes its not funny.

1. Keane bought for 12 million, then sold 14 months later for 7.
2. Folwer, forget the figures but i know they lost ****loads on this also.
3. Bowyer, lost for nothing.
4. Kewell, they got 3 million out of the deal. Christ could have got about 15 4 months earlier.
5. SOOO many more to mention, a club that was run VERY VERY poorly.

 

[Dipper]

I'm not sure a salary cap would stand up to EU law if it was challenged, over here we have salary caps in rugby league & rugby union but they remain unchallenged because most of the clubs probably believe it's for the best & they might struggle to finance a decent legal challenge, if they tried to force it onto football I can just see the ManU/Real Madrid/Juventus lawyers rubbing their hands with glee as they prepare to fight it out.

 

[moomba]

Originally posted by Borgsta
2. Folwer, forget the figures but i know they lost ****loads on this also.

Bought for £11million, sold for £3 million plus a further £3 million after he plays 90 games for City (they get £500k every 15 games he plays). Leeds took out a loan to pay for Fowler, but are still paying it off as the sale price didn't cover the remaining amount outstanding on the loan. Finally I believe they are still paying Fowler around £20k a week to compensate for the drop in salary he took to come to City.

Moomba

 

[Paris75]

Originally posted by Borgsta

3. Bowyer, lost for nothing.
4. Kewell, they got 3 million out of the deal. Christ could have got about 15 4 months earlier.

I'm not going to deny Leeds was (and pehaps is) being run very poorly however I think it's a bit harsh to blame us for those two. We had a deal for I think 9m for Bowyer all stitched up before something ****ed up and Kewell has already been debated many times before. We also got offered 15m (or around that) for Dacourt by SS Nazio, if it were any non-racist Italian team we would of had a deal.

Anyway onto the topic, I don't think a salary cap of the traditional style would be appropriate however if clubs were only allowed to pay 50% (or lower) of their income annually then I think this would solve a few problems, however implementation might be difficult.

 

[bugman5]

Topic close to my heart, did my Economics sub-thesis on this very idea.

Percentage caps, such as P75 proposed, are good for financial viability but do nothing for competition. Interestingly the G14 propose a cap of 70% of turnover for all European clubs.

If an AFL style cap were implemented, it would have to be Europe wide, as non-capped leagues would draw the best talent away. South America wouldn't have the financial strength to lure significant players away from Europe, though some South Americans may think twice about moving to Europe.

DIPPER in terms of the EU, the European Commission have stated that they would accept restrictions on the labour market on the condition that it improves competitive balance of competitions, so a salary cap would be potentially acceptable.

If a cap were installed, it would require a new transfer system with no transfer fees. In my Economics thesis, I suggested an auction mechanism, similar to the way mobile phone spectrum is auctioned, so as to allocate players to clubs that most highly value a player under the constraint of the salary cap.