What could real reform look like?

With all the talk of C19 giving an opportunity to press the reset button on football and the president of FIFA saying the game will be ‘more attentive to true values’ I thought outside the box yesterday regarding the foundational changes that could be made to allow for the true values to shine. My thoughts led me to ask, should we:

1. Sell women football
2. Make the World Cup fair
3. Abolish the transfer system
4. Make the philosophy of common goal mandatory 
5. Ban clubs from paying agents

1. Sell womens football.

Women’s football is entering a period of tremendous growth and opportunity. The potential to harness the unique energy of the players and fan base is big. To harness this energy into a major wealth generator for all its stake holders does it need an unfettered unique constitution, focus and expertise? 

Is the male construct that is FIFA is irreversibly intrenched in beliefs regarding football that might be a fundamental contradiction to the values and energy the women’s game needs to develop a successful future?

While the mens game must improve does the women’s game need the freedom to define its own future. Until recently does the positioning of the women game as a ‘department’ (while there is no mens department) at FIFA reflect an institutional mentality that will not allow for this freedom. For this freedom to happen does the the ‘ownership’ of the women’s game require a singular focus unfettered by the mens game? 

Could the game would be owned by a new global foundation. Tender is issued inviting the formation of consortiums of credible stakeholders to form a foundation that takes full ownership of the women game. Then, in World Cup bidding style, the visions and strategies of the various groups are pitched to the jury who will award ownership in a break away from FIFA. The jury will consist of every registered female footballer in the world, every season ticket holder for a women club and every employee in the women game. Would the women game be better off with its own independent leadership?

2. Make the World Cup fair.

In 2018 our latest mens world cup had 14 of Europes 44 countries competing (31%) and in Africa 5 from 54 (9%). Is this fair?

What about a World Cup where we have 20 groups of 10. Each group has an equally divided number of countries per continent (so a group might be Argentina, Jamaica, Ireland, Portugal, Egypt, Kenya, Cameroon, Iran, India and FIji home and away). Top 2 qualify for the World Cup. Do continental tournaments mean we get to play our neighbours enough already. Why not make the World Cup truly global. Nigeria v England in Lagos! Spain v Mexico, but also taking the best in the world around the world, Brazil in Freetown! Players and fans alike would be exposed to the global game, understanding its universal passion but also the power it has to develop and bring change.

Has the current structure systematically prevented the development of the game in many corners of the world? One of the many things we could learn from US sporting structures is how to give the teams at the bottom of the pile a route to the top. No better example of this is in the draft where the best player goes to the weakest team. Why not apply the methodology financially to the World Cup. The teams that finish last in the groups get the largest slice of the entire World Cup revenues. Would the impact of this structural and financial model be the levelling of the playing field over 50 years and give everyone a chance?

3. Abolish the transfer system.

Having worked in player development for 20 years the worst part of the job is putting a ‘price’ on your boys and push for the clubs financial upside which is potentially at conflict with your lad getting the best possible contract at his next club.

Again looking to America they have designed their top sports without transfer fees. The universities take care of the formation phase of an athletes journey and the franchises run the pro entertainment business. $7.3 billion was spent on transfers last year, I guess another $4-6 billion was spent on youth development. What if this $12b’ish was a tax on revenues of every professional club and redistributed to a global player development budget. We could have an academy with a budget of $3m for every 2m people in the world. In India and Africa combined, for example, there are not more than 4 academies with budgets this size, this model would create 1000!! Local government, foundation and sponsorship dollars could probably double the pot.

Clubs could continue to run academies (but private academies would be allowed) with a strict licensing system, but every player graduates as a free agent at 18. Academies would provide a guaranteed place from 10-15 for all students and an optional final 3 years for the student.

Is the unethical relentless deselection of players in academies is a problem long over due a fix. The foundational problem is staff are ‘forced buy the system’ to view students as financial assets and make decisions accordingly. I believe 99.9% of the people working in youth football don’t want to think this way. They want to coach football and develop young people. Fixed budgets and players graduating as free agents could fix this. When becoming pro players would move as in the NBA?

Would more players with tallent get the education and opportunity they deserve this way and would the global game improve?

4. Make the philosophy of common goal mandatory.

Common goal is a platform for pros to give 1% of their earnings to football development projects around the world. None of the projects are about professional football or elite players. They are all about using the undeniable power of football to make kids living tough lives happy through football, and point them in the right direction through the game in relation to education and health care.

I believe this is footballs purpose, to make people happy, encourage them to follow their dreams and provide a framework for a better life. losing sight of this is to disconnect from our soul, which quite possibly has been happening. MLK said “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” And Mandela said “sport has the power to change the world”. 

By acknowledging these facts and taking action will we feed the soul of football and ensure if flourishes. Helping others leads to discovering your purpose, discovering your purpose makes you happy. Do our players and stake holders need this engagment?

Football has the potential to provide this framework for all its stakeholders through the common goal platform. If 1% of the professional games revenues were contributed something like $1B a year could go to changing lives through football.

I believe our future comes from being connected with the soul of the game and having fans who believe in us, could this commitment achieve that?

5. Ban clubs from paying agents.

Is this the most obvious fix in the game. Is it a conflict of interest when, as a player, your agents fee is hidden from you an the size of that fee can influence his advice!?

Is there a reason for agents to make the money they do from the game? Are there are plenty of well qualified people who can provide the right advice who would be happy to earn 50’000 to 1’000’000 a year from this work. Can we use the money currently going out of the game for better things?

If ‘yes’ could a total ban (with a 12 point penalty) for any clubs paying agents fix this. Would a limit on fees from players to agents of 5% also be right? Do a good job with 25 clients and earn an extremely respectable living but you only earn from the performance of your client and negotiating his contracts with only his best interests at heart.

Much of the distrust between players and their clubs that covid19 is exposing is due to the clubs treating their players as commodities not humans, but is much also due to the wedge that the many bad agents drive between players and their clubs to build their leverage. Would players and clubs be better off with these changes?

What do you think? Which idea would have the biggest positive impact on the game? Which idea is ridiculous?