The Sweeper: Arsène Wenger’s Crusade Against International Football
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Arsène Wenger
In what would be yet a huge step forward in the further commodification of football, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is planning to sue the Dutch Football Confederation (KNVB) for compensation related to injuries sustained to Holland and Arsenal forward Robin van Persie during a Holland/Italy friendly last month. He told reporters yesterday that he “expect[s] financial compensation for the damage [injuries] can make to the championship and the salary involved. It is especially frustrating to lose your players for the rest of the season in a friendly game. The question has to be raised.”
While the KNVB made a hash of van Persie’s injury, with Serbian doctors and animal placentas veiling the fact the striker’s ankle ligaments were more damaged than initially diagnosed by the Dutch national team physician, Wenger’s move could set a precedent that would forever alter the nature of international football, with mid-season friendlies banned and international sides wary of picking the best players available for fear of having to make huge payouts to clubs.
Wenger made his views on international football very clear:
“I am not against the national teams. But at the moment we sit here and they can do what they want. The players are paid by their clubs and get injured playing for another team. I am happy if England wins, but if we lose because England wins nobody cares about me. There is something completely wrong with the system. I want the power to be rebalanced more in favour of the clubs.”
The implication is that larger national federations like Holland, France, England and Italy make a great deal of money from expensive “goods” supplied at no cost by clubs, and should therefore be liable if those goods are returned “damaged.” In any case, the move reveals that for Wenger championships are measured in lost revenue, and players are million dollar machines not to be lent out for something as ethereal as national pride. Few club investors would disagree.
While no one would argue that UEFA, FIFA, or the big football federations (Wenger acknowledged in the case of Adebayor at Togo that not all federations will be able to compensate clubs for lost wages) don’t make a great deal of money from international football, the money earned from England friendlies for example doesn’t all go into the wallets of FA fat cats. Money from international football helps sustain both league and non-league football, funding football grassroots projects and facilities (Clairefontaine anyone?) that, in addition to club academies, help generate the sort of players that made Arsenal so much money over the past decade and a half.
Penalizing international sides for calling up their homegrown talent for friendlies or qualifiers would further diminish the ability of federations and associations to raise money for soccer education and development at the local level, which provides the enormous palate from which the club academy system draws upon for its best young talent. International football might have the balance of power in Wenger’s eyes, but it could become a meaningless sideshow should the Arsenal manager get his way.
International Stories
- It appears a Canada-Macedonia friendly played last month may have been fixed. The Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and Macedonian federation are adamant the allegations surround the referee and not any players on the Canadian or Macedonian sides. Some big question marks still hang over this story though…
- Some goal porn for proud USMNT supporters via Steve Goff: highlights and Michael Bradley’s winner for Moechengladbach on the weekend. Enjoy.
- Top seeded Akron will play second seed Virginia for the NCAA soccer crown today at 1 pm EST after Akron beat North Carolina on penalties on Friday night.
When not breaking into foreign recording studios, Richard Whittall writes A More Splendid Life.
The argument that the clubs pay players’ wages when they’re on international duty but don’t have them for use is easy to deal with; just don’t pay them on international duty. Sorted.
I disagree with your conclusion that Wenger values profit over national pride. International breaks have always been hard on Arsenal, but Van Persie’s injury has severely derailed the club’s hunt for a Premier League title. That’s not just monetary loss, but loss of a great match-winning striker. Wenger is thinking of satisfying the fans and preserving his team’s playing style when he suggested a way to ensure national teams take as much care of their players as his own club does.
The current system is rife with moral hazard problems. Financial compensation would act as an incentive for national managers to use their football players wisely, not urging them to play when they are half-crocked and making sure they get proper medical treatment. Penalties would only be incurred during cases where the national team/manager has shown reckless disregard for the health and fitness of a player, as in Van Persie’s case. I don’t see how that equates to undermining the international outfit.
@Dave: if the clubs, don’t pay player salaries when they are injured during international duty, how do you expect the players to earn income? With such callous treatment from their clubs, players would surely opt out of playing international duty rather than risk the possibility of losing week/s wages.
Insurance??
I think stating that this is all about money and business is an incredibly cynical take on this view. I am admittedly an Arsenal fan, but Wenger has a very good point: why should the players he trains and his club pays the wages of be beholden to national teams whenever they decide to hold a meaningless friendly?
Releasing players for international competition or for qualifying games is one matter; having to hand Van Persie over to Holland for their friendly is another. Van Persie has been injured numerous times over the last few seasons, but few remember that at least half of those were while on Holland duty; who bears the brunt of the downside? Arsenal. Walcott was picked for the England U21 side this summer; he’s played very few games for Arsenal this year after succumbing to injuries.
Letting players go to the World Cup, Euros, or African Cup of Nations is one matter; having hands tied to release them for mid-week friendlies during qualification breaks (which are far, far too plentiful during the club season as it is) and seeing no repayment should players be injured on national duty is terrible.
At least Wenger is standing in front of the issue and making a statement, instead of skirting it and having players magically ruled out “injured” when the international call-ups come…
The club needs to dock RVP wages – RVP chose to play for the Dutch Federation. No coach put a revolver to his head and several Dutch players, notably Clarence Seedorf, have voluntarily retired for club considerations.
But not team will dock a player wages because, as the only club doing so, they would put themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Plus, they also get a profit from the publicity (although not directly tangible).