Uefa boss Michel Platini today waged war on third party ownership urging the rest of the world to follow the lead of the Football Association in stamping out the practice.
Slamming “anonymous individuals who just want to get their hands on football’s money,” the Frenchman warned that companies and individuals lining their pockets by taking a portion of transfer fees had to be eliminated.
Third party ownership is rooted in South America but is now prevalent in Spain and Portugal and affects hundreds of players transferred to Europe’s major clubs including the Premier League and Football League.
The Premier League banned TPO after the "economic rights" of Argentine stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were found to still be owned by two offshore companies when they signed for West Ham in 2006.
In a hard-hitting address to the 54-nation Uefa Congress, Platini said: “I have been constantly warning for years that this practice – which is becoming increasingly widespread – is a danger to our sport.”
“It threatens the integrity of our competitions, damages football’s image, poses a long-term threat to clubs’ finances and even raises questions about human dignity.
“Today, players are certainly not the property of their clubs. Increasingly, players are owned by opaque companies based in tax havens and controlled by some unknown agent or investment fund.
“Quite simply, some players are no longer in control of their own sporting careers and are transferred each year to generate revenue for anonymous individuals who just want to get their hands on some of the money in football.
“The English FA were the first to recognise the dangers of this practice and the moral and ethical problems that it poses.
"As a result they banned third-party ownership. They acted swiftly and decisively, and I congratulate them on that."
