Source: Daily_Mail
Chelsea ban scandal: 'Big clubs are like trawlers sweeping kids up in the nets'
SPORTSMAIL SPECIAL REPORT[LNB]Not the first time: Chelsea have faced allegations of tapping up young players before the Gael Kakuta (pictured) ruling[LNB]The evidence was there in black and white - a mobile phone bill that revealed how Chelsea had lured two 16-year-old kids away from Leeds United three years ago.[LNB] The phone belonged to Leeds but it was still in the possession of Gary Worthington, a coach who had left the Leeds academy in July 2005 to work for Chelsea. [LNB]But Worthington continued to use the phone, and made a series of calls to Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo as well as their parents. It was when the phone bill landed back at Elland Road that Leeds grew suspicious. [LNB]After a few more inquiries they discovered exactly what had been happening. An allegation was made to the Barclays Premier League that Chelsea had illegally tapped up their players and the case was settled at a tribunal. [LNB]Chelsea paid £5million compensation, and Leeds withdrew their complaint. But it was a good deal more than the £200,000 Chelsea had initially offered for the teenagers after denying the illegal approach. [LNB]The phone bill that was presented by Leeds at the tribunal appears to have strengthened their bargaining position. [LNB]As Ken Bates revealed in his programme notes last year, the tactics Chelsea employed were shocking.[LNB] Clubs are forbidden from approaching a player who is registered with another club without first receiving permission, but Bates said: 'They (Woods and Taiwo) were invited down to Chelsea with their parents, visited the Chelsea training ground, stayed at a good hotel, watched Chelsea and then signed for the club.' [LNB]The Leeds chairman, and for 21 years the chairman at Chelsea before selling the club to Roman Abramovich, does not consider it an isolated incident. Far from it. [LNB] Lured: Chelsea signed Michael Woods (L) and Tom Taiwo (R) from Leeds three years ago and were eventually forced to pay £5m in compensation for the pair[LNB]'The problem here is that the big clubs are stripping the small clubs of their youngsters,' he told Sportsmail yesterday while responding to the controversy surrounding Chelsea's capture of Gael Kakuta. [LNB]'They are like Japanese fishing trawlers, just sweeping up everything in their nets. But the big clubs treat the little clubs like s***. They try to pay as little as possible. [LNB]'Manchester City spent more than £200m in the last transfer window but when they took two of our 14-year-olds not so long ago they offered £30,000 for one and £40,000 for the other. [LNB]'Never mind how much we had already invested in them. Never mind the fact that running an academy is a bit like running a stud farm. You might get one thoroughbred in 10 but you still have to feed the other nine.[LNB]Still angry: Leeds chairman Ken Bates[LNB]'I know of a number of academies in this country that are actually running at a loss and it is not helped by the fact that the big clubs are taking their best kids from them for peanuts.' [LNB]With City there are echoes of the Leeds deal. First they recruited Andy Welsh, the academy director at Leeds, to succeed Jim Cassell as the director of City's academy; then came the arrival of Louis Hutton and George Swann. [LNB]Leeds have not made a complaint but they have turned to the Professional Football Compensation Committee, a cross-body, cross-league panel who will determine this month how much compensation, for training and development, City will have to pay for the players. [LNB]Another such tribunal will be heard by the PFCC on Monday, when compensation will be agreed for another Leeds player who was lured away from Elland Road. In this case Luke Garbutt, the captain of England's Under 17 side, who is at Everton. [LNB]Bates is not convinced such moves are always in the best interests of the players, as he explains in those aforementioned programme notes that were prompted by a circular Leeds received offering Taiwo on loan.[LNB]The belligerent Bates wrote: 'Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo. Remember them? No? The names came back to me when we received a circular from a firm of football agents as follows, 'Tom Taiwo - Chelsea central midfield/right back. Former Leeds United. £2m. England youth international who had a spell at Port Vale this season'.'[LNB]'Remember them now? Great players with outstanding potential. Haven't heard of them since until the above circular, offering Tom on loan, arrived at our door. [LNB] FIFA have received no complaint over Man United's raid for prodigy PogbaChelsea ban scandal: FIFA act a warning to big clubs against Gael Kakuta-style signings and to check 'money doping' hints PFA chief Gordon Taylor Thieves! Chelsea hit with transfer ban until 2011 for 'stealing' young French star Gael KakutaFIFA and UEFA plan to ban transfers of Under 18s after Chelsea scandalCHELSEA BAN SCANDAL: I warned Blues they were 'stealing' Gael Kakuta but they told me to take cash and shut up, reveals former Lens chief[LNB]'The problem is that young players and their parents are sometimes seduced by short-term promises. It must be very tempting to see short-term gains and the glamour of moving to a so-called 'big club'. [LNB]'In reality, the truth is very different. The kids disappear into the anonymity of the nether regions, rarely to be heard of again.[LNB] 'Meanwhile, back at their origins, other youngsters are nurtured, encouraged and progress through the ranks. Short-term gain, long-term loss. [LNB]'Leeds United are committed to caring and fostering our youth for the long-term benefit of the kids' future.' [LNB] Little boy Blue: Gael Kakuta in action[LNB]Bates said yesterday: 'Too many of these kids who are taken by the big clubs just disappear. They are destroying their careers, farming them out on loan when they could be playing first-team football with the club they left behind. [LNB]'New regulations should be introduced. Swingeing compensation payments; a limit to how many kids a club can sign; and a ban from sending them out on loan for two years. Right now some of these boys are just being traded like horsemeat.' [LNB]While the Premier League would like FIFA to tighten up their regulations concerning the registration of young players, one expert warned yesterday that the Kakuta storm could end with 'another Bosman'. [LNB]It is a hugely complex issue that the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have to wade through when Chelsea take their appeal to Lausanne, but the argument comes down to whether the English club can prove Kakuta was not under contract when they signed him. [LNB] Another Bosman: one expert warned yesterday that the Kakuta storm could end with a landmark ruling, such as that obtained by Jean-Marc Bosman (pictured)[LNB]In France, where Kakuta was playing for Lens, and Spain the clubs put their young players on pre-contract agreements before they can sign as a professional contract at 16. [LNB]Clearly, FIFA would appear to recognise such an agreement - Kakuta signed one with Lens when he was 13 - as legally binding and that is why they have banned Chelsea from signing players until January 2011. But one expert thinks FIFA have to be careful.[LNB] 'This could end up in the European Courts as another restraint of trade issue,' he said. [LNB]'If a 16-year-old wants to play his football somewhere else and he hasn't signed the professional contract, it could prove difficult to enforce.[LNB] 'Pre-contracts for kids that age don't exist in England and Italy. Clubs simply apply to extend a player's registration every two years. At 12, at 14, until they can sign a professional contract at 16. If a player rejects the offer from their club at 16, they are free to go somewhere else.' [LNB] Complaint: Manchester United could be in similar trouble over Paul Pogba (C) [LNB]Chelsea are considered by FIFA to be in serious breach of regulations for inducing Kakuta to break his contract with Lens, and Manchester United could soon be facing a similar charge after Le Havre complained to FIFA that Paul Pogba had been induced to break a contract with them and move to Old Trafford. [LNB]Last night it emerged Fiorentina have filed a complaint with FIFA over United's capture of Michele Fornasier, who joined them this summer.[LNB] The difference is, though, the 16-year-old was not contracted to Fiorentina because pre-contract agreements do not exist in Italy. [LNB]How FIFA sort it all out in the best interests of football and its young footballers is anybody's guess. [LNB] FIFA have received no complaint over Man United's raid for prodigy PogbaChelsea ban scandal: FIFA act a warning to big clubs against Gael Kakuta-style signings and to check 'money doping' hints PFA chief Gordon Taylor Thieves! Chelsea hit with transfer ban until 2011 for 'stealing' young French star Gael KakutaFIFA and UEFA plan to ban transfers of Under 18s after Chelsea scandalCHELSEA BAN SCANDAL: I warned Blues they were 'stealing' Gael Kakuta but they told me to take cash and shut up, reveals former Lens chief[LNB] Explore more:People:Ken Bates, Roman AbramovichPlaces:Leeds, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, France, Elland Road
