But society doesn’t score

THIS week we saw the outrageous face of football when a European player was bought for a staggering R1.3-billion.

After months of speculation the deal to sign Gareth Bale was finally sealed this week when Real Madrid forked out million for the Welsh international.

This defies logic and the football community may be wondering where all this will end as fears abound that the money involved in football has spiralled out of control.

Transfer deals stretching into the millions for big-name players are now the norm in a sport which once prided itself on its simplicity and entertainment value.

The best talents are not going cheap any longer. Each time the transfer window opens – the only period when it is permitted for players to switch clubs during a season – the chequebooks flash out staggering amounts.

This past transfer window saw £630-million, an equivalent R3.6-billion, change hands in the European leagues by the deadline this week.

Imagine the number of houses that could be built, the number of jobs created, and the scores of people fed with that amount of money.

It is all about priorities and it is a sad indictment on the sporting world that so much is being spent to keep people entertained. This while poverty and hopelessness overtakes millions and is a constant reminder of how vulnerable societies are.

Young players are encouraged to emulate their role models, but are their appetites being driven by the attraction of money, and money only?

Football is dribbling down the wrong path – and Fifa boss Sepp Blatter hinted as much after the Bale deal.

Blatter questioned if the player was worth million: “If a player is the value of that, I doubt, I doubt.”

He bemoaned the transfer fee saying it was at odds with the economic woes of recession-plagued Spain, but stressed there was little that he or Fifa, for that matter, could do about these ludicrous signing-on fees.

“When you say the country is a poor country or indebted, but in football you always find money. . . this is the market and we cannot intervene in this market.”

There is a belief that there has been no breach of the financial fair play rules of the European governing body, Uefa, which are aimed at ensuring the playing fields are level for all clubs.

A sports analyst argues that English clubs have gone on a spending spree but have not breached the financial fair play rules “as they are only spending what they have earned”.

Many South African players are at European clubs and are being paid relatively well. Too often the club versus country tug-o-war surfaces and in most instances it is the money factor which is the main culprit.

None of this bodes well for sport.