FCBARCELONA.CAT

14.09.2007 14:34

Laporta: “Clubs must be compensated”

David Puig

The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has proposed that national teams should compensate clubs for the use of their players and described the current situation as unjust.

Joan Laporta has once again called on national teams to compensate clubs for the use of their players. Speaking at the official presentation of the indoor football team, the Barça president outlined the Club’s proposals, which have been put before the various international footballing bodies: “The clubs pay the players’ salaries and they should receive compensation, either from FIFA or from the federation to which the national team belongs. The clubs should receive a proportion of the player’s salary, an amount that the club considers appropriate for loaning the player, and a part of the income generated by the matches, especially if they are friendlies”.

Optimistic about the attitude of UEFA

Although the situation is complicated, Joan Laporta remains optimistic, especially as regards the attitude of UEFA: “I believe we will get this. There’s a special sensitivity at the top of UEFA to resolve this problem. Otherwise we would enter a dynamic that doesn’t interest UEFA. If there are no solutions, the clubs might take over the leadership of some important international competitions and it could be that UEFA and FIFA might lose the authority to organise these competitions”.

A year of reflection

Mr Laporta also explained that the G-14 clubs had been waiting for a solution from the international footballing bodies throughout last season: “FC Barcelona proposed to G-14 a year of reflection and dialogue with the [footballing] bodies in order to try and reach an agreement. I personally belong to various FIFA and UEFA committees and I have seen that things are progressing very slowly. As yet, no concrete solutions have been put forward and, therefore, we believe that the clubs have to begin to take action”.