Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-018"
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"en.20000907.1.4-018"2
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"Mr President, Madam President-in-Office, Commissioner, the Group of the Party of European Socialists asked the Commission to make a statement on the topical subject of football transfers and for it to be added to this joint debate. I welcome the statement made by the Commissioner, which has our support. I recommend that, in future, she should come to Parliament before so many leaks occur from the Commission administration, which forced the Commissioner to face the press with great courage and determination, not afraid to tell them the truth. It would be better if they came to Parliament first and had our support.
The subject of transfers is perhaps an example that sums up the current situation of sport. There are two reports, the Zabell report and the Mennea report, drawn up by Olympic champions. On the eve of the Sydney Olympics, I would like to recall that the first, and perhaps the best, contribution to peace made by Europe, that is, by ancient Greece, was precisely the Olympic Games. They talk of sport as a citizen’s right, with a social and cultural function. There is a component of transfer fees that is justified in terms of the contribution that is made to training and preparing sportsmen. This makes sense and needs to be regulated, and we need to support young people and small clubs so that they can promote themselves.
Another dimension is the big business involved, which in many countries is becoming the second largest sector in the economy. We are dealing with uncontrolled, unsustainable long-term speculation. A major club in my native city made the biggest transfer in football history – EUR 70 million. The person involved has said that it is absurd, and the chairman of the club has said that it is in a very grave economic situation. If we were applying the rules of economics, we would have to act differently.
Therefore, I think that the Commission should act. It has managed to make FIFA begin to see sense. My group and I would like to show our support for the Commission and we maintain that action has to continue that will really express and guarantee this right of Europeans.
Finally, I would like to point out that there has been talk of the collapse of the world of football. In the United States in the 1940s, under anti-trust legislation, the same measures were applied in Hollywood as those that the Commission is proposing. But Hollywood did not go under. Quite the opposite. We now have a considerable economic problem in coping with the clout of the American film industry.
Therefore, keep going, Commissioner."@en1
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