Thursday, July 30, 2009
An Undisclosed Fee
So Kolo Toure joins the Sky Blue Arabian Revolution in Manchester. Can’t say he’ll be missed. Yes, he used to clap his hands a lot and grind his teeth a lot, in some quarters the signs of a good captain, but he hadn’t been at his best for a while so when City came in with a good offer they bye bye Kolo.
Was it a good offer? One report has 16 million. Another 14 million. Meanwhile the Arsenal website announces an undisclosed fee.
What is it with these undisclosed fees? Someone got something to hide? What does the taxman think?
I live in Indonesia, supposedly one of the least transparent countries in the world. Yet the fact that its star footballer Bambang Pamungkas earns about 137,000 USD is out there in the public arena. How much will Toure earn at Eastlands?
Why the secrecy within the English game over transfer fees and salaries? It hasn’t always been this way. I remember Alan Ball writing in Shoot magazine that he earned 250 quid a week. I remember the Arsenal chairman Denis Hill-Wood proudly saying Malcom MacDonald had cost 333,333 quid.
Not now though. While people demand greater transparency in all areas of life, in football things get murkier. All those grubby hangers on lurking in back alleys and 5 star hotel bakeries want their cut but we, the mugs who pay the piper, aren’t allowed to know who gets what.
Was it a good offer? One report has 16 million. Another 14 million. Meanwhile the Arsenal website announces an undisclosed fee.
What is it with these undisclosed fees? Someone got something to hide? What does the taxman think?
I live in Indonesia, supposedly one of the least transparent countries in the world. Yet the fact that its star footballer Bambang Pamungkas earns about 137,000 USD is out there in the public arena. How much will Toure earn at Eastlands?
Why the secrecy within the English game over transfer fees and salaries? It hasn’t always been this way. I remember Alan Ball writing in Shoot magazine that he earned 250 quid a week. I remember the Arsenal chairman Denis Hill-Wood proudly saying Malcom MacDonald had cost 333,333 quid.
Not now though. While people demand greater transparency in all areas of life, in football things get murkier. All those grubby hangers on lurking in back alleys and 5 star hotel bakeries want their cut but we, the mugs who pay the piper, aren’t allowed to know who gets what.
# posted by Me @ 8:22 AM 
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