by A. M. Kane

Created on: September 13, 2008

Contracts are essential pieces of legislature in any sphere or domain of life and that is the case no less in sports. Sportsmen and women are, as with any line of work, employees and in that sense it is essential that clear parameters are drawn up legally to protect each party, so as they know what their roles and tenures are, and ultimately what they are both entitled to as a result of their professional relationship, financially and otherwise.

As an avid follower of English football (soccer to my friends across the pond in America), I am rather miffed at the obscene and vile amounts of money that contemporary footballers command today most of the time without justification.

I am a strong advocate of a base wage structure for all footballers in a team, which is set by the employing club. This means that every player is paid exactly the same wage, however to have it capped like that would be foolish. I propose the structure should be open to many perks and ways to earn extra cash. As far as I'm concerned this would be a further incentive for players to perform at the top of their game, rather than us having to witness some lacklustre and dull performances week in,week out, by players whose hearts are not in the game, and those who play with the knowledge that they will be paid their guaranteed weekly obscene amount regardless of whether they play well or not!

In this sense I believe a fluid contract is essential, one where players are paid base wages and then additional amounts on a weekly basis gauged on their relative performances, personal and collectively as a team. For example, scoring goals, assisting clean, sheets, tackling, making saves and so on, would each command more money in addition to the uniform base wage. In the age of money grabbing sports stars, surely this would incentivise the game and make sure the players are committed to putting in 100% because their wages depend on it!

Contracts however ought to be bonded in that a guaranteed tenure should be agreed, e.g., 3 years typical contract, with clauses so allow the player or club to forfeit the deal under certain set circumstances. Reasons for leaving could be family or personal problems, tensions at the club, raised ambition and a need for personal betterment at a bigger club, the need for a new challenge, or the need for a greater wage which is being offered by another club.

A certain degree of individuation should also be involved in the formulation of a contract where the needs of the player

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