G14 to take its wages fight to the European Commission

The 18 clubs group claims it is unfair for clubs to continue to pay players all their wages while they may be absent for more than a month on international duty. Following its complaint to the Swiss office of Fair Trading, the group's general director Tomas Kurth has reveled that an official challenge to FIFA's regulations will be addressed to the European Commission next spring.  "We would want them to decide if FIFA rules comply with competition law or not - we do not believe they do," Kurth told media. G14 group want FIFA and UEFA to give them part of the revenues from international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and European Championships. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed criticism on "the greedy few" clubs and concerns over the 'club vs. country' dispute over the release of players for international duty, "Football must remain entertainment for all. It must not become the plaything of a greedy few who believe that their financial strength gives them the legitimacy to call the shots, abandon the grass roots and destroy the very foundation of the national game," he commented in his column in UK Financial Times newspaper.

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