Should Portsmouth be bailed out, like big banks and nation states (Greece)? I am concerned about the parlous state of football finances. As such, I propose the following dramatic but necessary remediatory actions:
1) Clubs that are too large (eg, Man Utd, Real Madrid, Liverpool) should be broken up, so that they are not ‘too big to fail’.
2) The playing side of the business and the financial side should be kept completely separate, so that reckless trading does not affect clubs’ fans.
3) Bonuses to footballers should be banned, or at least subjected to an emergency tax. Surely it is their fault that the clubs are in the position that they are?
4) A new FSA (Football Services Authority) should be established to monitor and regulate the activities of football clubs. It should be financed by a levy on all clubs.
5) Transfers between clubs should be subject to a ‘transaction tax’, the proceeds of which should be used to counteract the affects of climate change.
6) Investing in youth players by big clubs is essentially analagous to proprietary trading – punting their cash on the hope that one or two tweenies make it in to the big time. As a result, such activity should also be banned.
Who is with me?
TF_Gary.
