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The process of globalisation, that affects all our lives, is exerting a malign influence on football and pushing the world's favourite sport in an unsavoury direction. What is more, for once, Europe appears to be setting the pace.

The conflict between national teams and a handful of apparently omnipotent clubs, commonly known as "the club versus country debate", is set to intensify in the near future. When it does, spectators, non-Europeans and football itself will all lose out.

Clubs, or rather a select few European clubs, are increasingly desperate to appeal to international audiences in ever more distant parts of the globe to tap into new income streams that will allow them to continue to recruit what they regard as the "best" players. Since many such players hail from Africa, South America, Oceania and increasingly Asia, a high-stakes trade in humans is the end result.

Some of the clubs in question already have genuine worldwide appeal, either as a result of good play or, more often, good marketing. Neither is wrong per se. Indeed, I welcome more professional management in football everywhere.

What is questionable though is this: by creating a brand with international appeal, the clubs inevitably abandon much of their local social responsibility. If a London club has only a couple of English players in its first-team squad, with the rest coming from half a dozen different countries, I'm sure I would not be the only one who had a problem associating that club with its local area.
It may well be that such a club would appeal to spectators as far afield as Asia, South America and the US. But what about the fan whose father and grandfather were season-ticket holders before them? Or the youngster who always dreamt of a career with his local club? And what about the academy that is no longer in London, but rather Australia or Cameroon because it is supposedly cheaper to scout and develop local talent there? What about the national team that, as a result, is deprived of players - a national team that, in England's case, hasn't won a major international competition in decades?

A few clubs feel strongly that their future - and that of a select few others - is a European Professional League, governed by themselves, but above all governed by money. They believe even richer deals could be struck if they offer "elite" football where a player's nationality no longer matters. What would matter instead would be to maximise income in order to satisfy shareholders/owners and be able to afford ludicrously high transfer fees. The result would be a situation in which Europe adopted the American concept of the National Football League or the National Basketball Association in which money rules and social conscience is of limited relevance.

It was always my philosophy that those who have should give to those who have not. This absolutely should apply to football. Unlike these elite clubs, FIFA, its six confederations and its 205 national football associations are all non-profit organisations. What money is left once our costs are covered is passed on to the grass roots. We use it to organise national and international competitions. We support local, national and international efforts to entertain everybody - not just the lucky few who can afford pay-per-view.

If we limited the availability of full internationals in that way, it would destroy the game and its base. (The European Union's competition watchdog concurs with this.) It is in any case misguided to believe that club competitions can ever be of more interest to people around the world than the matches their national teams are playing. And to try and replace the high drama of country against country clashes with artificial professional league championships in which any number of players originating from any number of different countries claim to be defending the colours of a supposedly English (or Italian, or Spanish) club is frankly a recipe for disaster.

Club versus country is far from a battle among equals. When there is a choice between a competitive international pitting, say, England and Brazil against each other and a club match between, say, Arsenal and Valencia, the international fixture will always attract more viewers.

For wealthy clubs to try to emasculate the international game by seizing control of a national football association - as I read that some fear they are trying to do in England - is plain unacceptable. It is an attempt to undermine the very foundation of what any such association is all about: in the case of England, this means looking after the interests of about 45,000 clubs (not just the biggest four or five), so that youngsters of all backgrounds and ages can enjoy their game. And so that a few can rise to fame and fortune whether they hail from millionaires' row or the most obscure housing estate.

Football must remain entertainment for all. It must not become the plaything of a greedy few who believe that their (fleeting) financial strength gives them the legitimacy to call the shots, abandon the grass roots and destroy the very foundation of the national game.

Source: FIFA
By Joseph S. Blatter (Published in the Financial Times September 29th)