FIFA Probes Spanish Rule on Selling League Spots
21/08/2007 |
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FIFA is probing new rules in Spain that allow the nation's soccer teams to buy into higher divisions and move like North American sports franchises.
World soccer's ruling body met with Spanish officials in Zurich today after blocking a third-division team's purchase of a slot in the second division. It says the rules violate its basic principle that teams should advance to better leagues only by success on the field, not by buying their way into them.
Spanish soccer adopted the new set of rules last year that league President Jose Luis Astiazaran says will help attract more investment to the sport. The country, which the league says spends $5 billion on soccer each year, is the first in Europe to allow such sales, he said.
``The matter is very complicated,'' FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said. ``It was recommended to the Spanish F.A. and the league that they should submit the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.''
Herren said it is ``a matter of urgency'' that the situation is resolved. The Lausanne, Switzerland-based CAS is sports' highest tribunal.
In June, third-division Granada 74 paid as much as 20 million euros ($27 million) to buy Ciudad de Murcia's second-tier place and move it the 300 kilometers (186 miles) to Granada. Under the agreement, the Murcia team disbands.
New Rules
It was the first accord of its kind since the Spanish league outlined the new rules in July 2006, although other clubs have discussed the idea, Astiazaran said in an interview in Madrid in May.
Real Valladolid, which advanced to the top division after winning the second-tier championship last season, in April rejected an offer to sell its newly earned slot to a group of businessmen from La Rioja, the team said.
La Rioja is a wine-making region of northern Spain without a top-ranked team.
In 2003, London's Wimbledon became the first club in the English league's 114-year history to relocate when it moved 62 miles away to Milton Keynes.
Teams in North American sports leagues typically are allowed to move to new cities with the approval of other owners in the league.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
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