Sporting Lisbon Crys Fowl In Marcos Rojo Transfer, Blames Third Party Ownership
Sporting Lisbon did not want to sell Marcos Rojo to Manchester United.
This is the revelation from Sporting president Bruno de Carvalho. In a BBC interview, Carvalho disclosed that he was under immense pressure from third party owners to ink the deal for the transfer.
“We did not want Rojo to leave. He was an important player for us,” he said.
He went on to share details on how the £16 million deal unfolded.
“The pressure was so big, they [the third-party owners] started to speak to the clubs and come here to the meetings. The directors thought they were people from the clubs because they were speaking in English although they were Portuguese. They believed it was a person from a club but it was a person from the funds.”
ESPN has reported that Manchester United has distanced themselves from the controversy, declining to comment and noting that its a issue for Sporting and the third party owner to resolve. The Inquisitr had earlier reported that Holland Legend, Ruud Gullit, has criticized Manchester United manager, Louis Van Gaal, for his transfer policy at the club, and the infiltration of third-party influence and power into the sport.
Third-party ownership in association football is the ownership of a player’s economic rights by third-party sources, such as football agents, sports-management agencies, or other investors. Note that this differs from co-ownership in football, in that system the player’s transfer rights are shared with another club.
The involvement of investors in the ownership of players is a common practice in football, particularly in Brazil, Portugal, and Argentina, where many clubs are insolvent or financially limited. Businessmen or other investors buy shares in the economic rights of young players, and often cover the costs of their training and accommodation. In return, they are entitled to a percentage of a player’s future transfer fee.
Last week, world governing body FIFA agreed to ban third party ownership, although a transitional period of up to four years is expected to take place before it comes into effect.
BBC News has reported that FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said a working group set up to implement the ban would decide how long the transitional period would be, suggesting it could be up to four years.
The report indicated that the working group will submit a proposal to the next FIFA executive committee meeting in December.
Do you agree with the FIFA ban on third party ownership?
[Image via ESPN]
