For many fans of the sport, the words football and corruption have become synonymous. It can be found, or speculated about in many different federations, teams, and players within the football world. Whether it be Fifa and Sepp Bladder, Qatar and the 2022 World Cup, or Neymar and contractual bribes, corruption seems to be clouding over the game. Its makes sense though. With the increase in commercialization and globalization over the last couple decades, the amount of money within the industry has increased drastically. This increase in the amount of money has lead to a heightened incentive for personal gain, resulting in more bribes, fraud, and tax-evasion by both teams and players.
A prime example of this corruption is the never-ending Neymar transfer scandal. Originally, Barca claimed they paid 57.1 Million Euros in transfers fees to Neymar's former team and consulting agencies holding his rights. But after further investigation, two companies owned by Neymar’s parents received four payments of 10 Million Euros.
Scandals of this nature bring up major ethical dilemmas within the world of football. How should the governing bodies(UEFA, FIFA) address these issues? Do you think corruption within the governing bodies has set a precedent of leniency among clubs? Moving forward, what should be the steps in the process to eradicate corruption in the football industry?
http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/the-never-ending-neymar-transfer-scandal/
http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/the-never-ending-neymar-transfer-scandal/
It is interesting to think about corruption in sports, specifically in football and the fact that fans and people in general have almost come to accept the symbiotic relationship. It is very interesting though to think about how much influence and how available such corruption is in the sport. I believe that if UEFA or FIFA implemented more fair regulations and technologies in the game, the less fans and people would be inclined to think about corruption in the game. I believe the regulatory disputes with such technologies is the biggest sign of the existence of said corruption.
ReplyDeleteIt is always hard to imagine that watching and rooting for our most beloved teams may all just be a ruse. When stories of this nature come to light it becomes increasingly more difficult because a part of you wants to see our favorite team or player be as successful as possible, but there is also a voice that I'm sure looms in our heads that wants the league to be competitive and pure. The hardest pill to swallow is wonder if what you are watching is the truth, or something that bigger corporations have planned for themselves to gain from. In futbol, making a change back to pure competition may prove to be quite the task. I believe it will all start with one. Individuals need to stand up for themselves and for what the game is intended to be. This mentality is sure to find the forefront in many athletes minds as they achieve an increased level of respect for each other and the game. A catalyst for this change, in my opinion, would have to be a heavy punishment for the first offenders caught. The intention being to set a precedent that the league is taking the issue very seriously. People will notice this and things will surely change, but it all starts with one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that they need to crack down hard on first time offenders involving corruption, tax evasion or any of the other scandals going on. It just isnt right and I think that corrpuption within the governing bodies has caused clubs and punishments to be more lenient. The scandal with Neymar is a pretty serious one, but it still seems as though not really much is happening in the process of figuring out all the details. Nobody wants to think about corruption, espeically with their home team, but the truth is is it does happen and it needs to be stopped.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the financial issues within the sports business are taken too lightly, and I agree that there should be punishment. Of course nobody wants to punish the beloved Neymar, but this can't just be brushed under the mat. However, I do think that there should be more rules in the first place to prevent things like this from happening. Surely there is are better accounting and financial practices that could put an end to the scandal. There needs to be a system that is the same for every player and more attention needs to be paid to the financial statements. With the system now there is obviously too much gray area for players and their finances. -Caroline
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ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see what transfers have come to. To think a player with as much talent who is guaranteed millions from his contract as well as sponsorships be dumb enough to follow through with something as dumb as tax evasion that could potentially end his career! A players association should be put together that makes it clear that agreeing to terms that are against the law results in a ban for that player as well as large sum fine. Players should be held more accountable for these dumb actions, and fans should feel slighted by these actions that is taking away from their tax money. I hope an end to the corruption in football comes soon as it only brings a bad image to the sport of football
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alex's comment. I think that having some type of players association that would be governed and would be created by the people that are breaking these rules could solve the issue. I think it's crazy to think that this happens as much as it does in Europe. It obviously happens sometimes in the United States but the example I can think of besides Neymar that is also crazy is Messi. When Barcelona signed Messi, they agreed to pay for all of his medical bills. This would never be allowed in the United States. When Lebron James graduated from high school he accepted a Hummer for free. It almost ruined his career. It is crazy that many people can keep getting away with bribery like this. Something has to be changed.
ReplyDeleteI think utilizing a player association could be a good idea for dealing with the corruption. It just would be hard to implement among different leagues and countries. I think it has to start at the top with more regulations and/or better actions from the federations. When teams and players see their governing bodies taking bribes and acting corruptly, it becomes easier for them to act the same way. Another viable option to end the corruption could be a complete overhaul of the European sports model. The model wasn't setup to handle the current levels of commercialization and globalization. In a capitalist model, it is difficult to eliminate corruption because there will always be someone taking advantage of the system. I think creating a new model, like the socialist sports system of American sports, may be the only way to eliminate the amount of corruption.
ReplyDelete-Matt Arnold
The sporting industry, especially football has obviously as you said, seen such an increase of profits through commercialization and globalization. I definitely agree that this increased focus on money leads to corruption in the sport. More control and or action must be taken place from high authoritative organizations within FIFA and or Champion´s League in order to keep this corruption under wraps. It is sad to see that the corruption taking place is so visible to the fans and business people of the football world. It would really benefit all aspects of the sport to remind the players and clubs what it´s all really about, the love and passion of playing the game.
ReplyDelete-Rachel C.
The sporting industry, especially football has obviously as you said, seen such an increase of profits through commercialization and globalization. I definitely agree that this increased focus on money leads to corruption in the sport. More control and or action must be taken place from high authoritative organizations within FIFA and or Champion´s League in order to keep this corruption under wraps. It is sad to see that the corruption taking place is so visible to the fans and business people of the football world. It would really benefit all aspects of the sport to remind the players and clubs what it´s all really about, the love and passion of playing the game.
ReplyDelete-Rachel C.
It is very sad that sports has come to the harsh reality of cheating and bribery. When you think about all of the external pressures to preform and win, one wouldn't be that surprised with it all. In an ideal world, there would just be the simple competition of the game and all of the money would be exchanged externally though betting if thats what people really wanted. Instead, playing by the rules isn't good enough for people. I think moving forward there should be zero tolerance polices put into place to really create a strict standard across the board to show people that cheating and bribery will not be tolerated in the sports world.
ReplyDeleteCorruption in football is not something that surprises me because attempting to influence the outcome of the game in an illegal way to make more money. We live in a greedy world and whether it be through trading of players, not paying taxes, etc, it is unavoidable to prevent. I do not think that UEFA or FIFA could do much to prevent this from occurring besides making accurate calls and making sure games are as fair as possible.
ReplyDeleteBY WILL LEVIN:
DeleteI see what you are saying about corruption here in regards to influencing the games. A point I wanted to think about is higher level corruption that isn't as obvious. When you look at Sepp Blatter and FIFA and how the world cup ended up in QATAR we see a type of corruption that is ruining the game on a much bigger scale.