League Gets Aggro!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 11/12/2003

The Football League is getting tough with FIFA and the FA and have warned that they will withdraw from the collective bargaining agreement governing the employment of players if the domestic transfer windows are not removed.

The Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee (PFNCC), which is made up from representatives of The League, Professional Footballers Association, Premier League and Football Association and they decide the terms and conditions of standard players' contracts.

The agreements have been in place for 25 years now and if the League withdraw, there would need to be a major overhaul of contractual relationships between clubs and players.

One of the changes would be the agreement regarding the League's insolvency rules relating to players maintaining the status of football creditors when clubs enter administration.

If that happens, players would cease to enjoy the 'priveleged' creditors position which the football authorities impose on club who go into administration.

Part of the statement made by Football League Chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney said: "Membership of the PFNCC binds The League into the collective bargaining agreement reached 25 years ago with the PFA.

Under the constitution of the PFNCC no major changes in the regulations affecting a player's terms and conditions of employment can be made without agreement in that forum."

"Transfer windows have fundamentally changed the complexion of the employment regime so far as clubs are concerned. If our attempts to remove the imposition of transfer windows domestically fails, we would therefore need a major overhaul of contractual arrangements not least to give clubs flexibility to deal with these new adverse financial circumstances.

"There is some evidence that, despite the efforts made to date, the major concerns that we have are being ignored."

"We call on FIFA to remove transfer windows domestically to allow our clubs the same freedom to trade that they previously enjoyed for so long."

"It is imperative to the survival and success of our clubs that they can generate income from their playing assets as and when they need to."

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