Des Kelly: English prints all over stolen goods

06 September 2009 14:33
So the Child Catchers have been caught for once. About time, too. Only this is not some fictional villain from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. These are the real-life characters who scour the world looking to snare young footballers in their nets. Chelsea might be the first English outfit to be punished with a FIFA ban, but let's quickly dispense with the idea that they are somehow the victims in all of this. As far as football is concerned, they are the bullies. They push, cajole, intimidate, tempt, threaten, charm and then pay through the nose when none of that works to get whatever they want. Of course, they are not alone in using such ruthless tactics. But continental Europe has long regarded Britain's powerful Premier League quartet as predators at best, and shameless parasites at worst. Look at Chelsea's crimesheet. Before the Gael Kakuta verdict, moves for Ashley Cole, John Mikel Obi, Michael Woods, Tom Taiwo, Nathan Porritt and even the switch of sporting director Frank Arnesen from Spurs became messy tangles of recrimination and compensation. But there is one tableau that perfectly captures the arrogant image Chelsea and the Premier League often project around the world. It is the case of Vincenzo Camilleri, then a highly-rated, 15-year-old Reggina player. Having brought the teenager to the brink of stardom in Italy, blooding him in a cup match against Inter, his club then saw something extraordinary happen three weeks before he was due to turn 16 and sign professional forms. A helicopter landed at their training ground and whisked Camilleri away. 'They plundered him,' said their furious president, Lillo Foti. 'Arnesen used Roman Abramovich's helicopter to take him away. Chelsea used money to defeat our values of care and sacrifice.' A helicopter raid? For a kid? Is that what our football clubs do now? I seem to remember the Child Catcher also arrived unannounced to do the bidding of the Baron of Vulgaria armed with a large net and a hook. It doesn't sound so very different. And what happened to Camilleri, you ask? Like so many others, he has effectively fallen off the radar. The Chelsea website no longer mentions him. His Wikipedia entry has been deleted. Stories like that make you wonder whether sanctions were not only deserved but overdue. Alarm bells should have sounded right through the top echelons of the league when Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the chairman of Bayern Munich, attacked the transfer policy of Arsenal in searingly emotive terms six months ago. More from Des Kelly... * Des Kelly: It's OK to cheat (when it's us) 28/08/09 * DES KELLY: Is there more to this Caster Semenya saga than sex? 21/08/09 * DES KELLY: Soap that gets us all in a lather (and no, it's not Corrie) 14/08/09 * DES KELLY: Don't be fooled... you'll pay for John Terry's loyalty 24/07/09 * DES KELLY: Sandy Lyle's only crime was telling the truth, Monty 17/07/09 * The horns of death: The bulls are free. All brave drunks are suddenly scared sober. What a stupid way to die 10/07/09 * DES KELLY: How come United boss Fergie has to look for a bargain? 03/07/09 * DES KELLY: Breaking news - British tennis is absolutely useless 27/06/09 * VIEW FULL ARCHIVE 'The word kidnapping is not too far off any more,' he said. 'Arsene Wenger signs a host of players from France and elsewhere, year-in and year-out. We have to take care this sort of child trafficking is stopped.' This was not the outburst of the gazumped chief of a minor club. Aside from running Bayern, Rummenigge heads up the European Club Association, the body that superseded the G14 and represents Europe's most powerful clubs. When Lens President Gervais Martel complained: 'Unfortunately, 95 times out of 100 the English come and help themselves,' it will have struck a familiar chord with Rummenigge's membership. There does not appear to be a loophole Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal will shy away from exploiting. There isn't a club they will dare not offend if there is the slightest chance that the next Ronaldo, Zidane or Maradona can be smuggled away for next to nothing. In his outburst, Rummenigge harked back to the manner in which Arsenal took Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona at the age of 15 on a free before the Spaniard was allowed to sign a contract in his home country. This same discrepancy in employment law also allowed Sir Alex Ferguson to snatch the then 16-year-old Federico Macheda from Lazio a year before he was able to put pen to pro terms in Italy. This is why all the top four's academies are honing the skills of foreign youngsters. Chelsea have kids from Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, Slovakia's FC Nitra, Rapid Vienna and, now, most notoriously, Lens on their books. Liverpool train nine foreign players in their academy from France, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia. Arsenal have eight, including another Barca prospect. United also have eight, including Paul Pogba from Le Havre, a transfer that may yet have consequences for them too. Remember, Old Trafford's coaching staff have already been accused of 'raping' Brazilian football by the legendary Carlos Alberto after handing contracts to the twins Rafael and Fabio at 15, three years before they could agree such terms in South America. So don't buy any of this 'anti-English vendetta' prattle that the likes of Chelsea are bandying about right now. The rest of Europe has been asking why FIFA and UEFA have not stamped on the Premier League earlier. Roma, FC Sion in Switzerland and Al Kuwait have all had transfer bans imposed by FIFA, which torpedoes the anti-English conspiracy somewhat. UEFA chief Michel Platini and ally Sepp Blatter, the FIFA President, are united in their desire to enforce contract law and protect youngsters. Of course, nobody put a gun to the heads of these 15-year-olds and ordered them to England, but teenagers can be influenced by all sorts of damaging pressures in this kind of situation. For a mega-rich club to use loopholes to steal them is not only immoral but also destroys the incentive for local football clubs to nurture young talent. This isn't about 'tapping up'; it's not about a professional footballer being courted for a new job. Players move, deals are done all the time. This is about tackling the sporting equivalent of stealing chicks from a nest. Yes, football is a ruthless industry, but that does not mean ethics have to be entirely written out of the business plan. So what are the solutions? ●Fix the anomaly where players can move around Europe at different ages. Right now, employment laws differ from country to country, which is at the root of this mess. ●Lay down strict regulations governing squad sizes to prevent ridiculous excess. Just look at Liverpool's squad. The last time I did I counted 66 names on their books. ●Agree a payment structure where academies receive set compensation and a percentage of any fee when a player is sold on. Money talks, which is why the small clubs are seldom heard. But it is the job of FIFA and UEFA to give them a voice and, right now, they seem to be making a rather good job of it.

Source: Daily_Mail