If you've read any soccer news outlet in the last week, you'll know that the outrage de jour is over illegal approaches by big clubs to steal younger talent from smaller clubs. Chelski and Man U have been targeted most prominently with these accusations.
As for whether or not Chelsea and Man U have been cheating, all I can say is: smoke... fire... probably cheating. But that's not for me to decide.
I decided to do extensive research in the FIFA/UEFA rules to provide you, the reader, with valuable pseudo-journalistic insight.
My conclusion: "Having a club that is wayyyyy better than your podunk, never gonna compete in Europe, allow me to sell 10,000,000 jerseys, bang a different model each night, so that the younger player signs with my good club instead of your crap club" is not a crime.
In the Pogba case against Chelsea, the allegations are that Chelsea offered Pogba's parents incentives to get Pogba to sign with Chelsea. This seems pretty illegal to me.
But with the slew of other allegations, we don't see anything like this.
Example, this rant on ESPN from Ken Bates where he accuses United of "baby farming." Other hyperbolic terms I've seen recently have included "child trafficking." First, what is this "Leeds" club of which you speak? For me, Leeds is like some relic of the 80's that you kinda remember, but not really: like slap bracelets. Second, "baby farming"? Really? (Where is all this hyperbole when it comes to diving!?!?!) Third, for me to care one iota about any of these accusations, I need the teeny clubs to say why the big clubs have cheated.
I also included "bad journalism" in this post because I blame the journalists. Instead of getting facts and reporting, they regurgitate hyperbolic spew from coaches. *YAWN*
Thank goodness the international week is almost over. Wake me when the US is done thrashing T&T.
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