Uefa urged to close 'rented' Alex loophole
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The leader of the world players' union has written to Uefa's president, Michel Platini, demanding that he close the loophole which permitted PSV Eindhoven to pick the player who ended Arsenal's Champions League campaign.
The Brazilian defender Rodrigo Alex scored the equaliser that eliminated Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate on Wednesday despite belonging to Chelsea. He is, according to the PSV manager Ronald Koeman, "rented" by the Dutch club.
No rules have been broken and should Chelsea be pitted against PSV in today's Champions League quarter-final draw Uefa could do nothing to prevent Alex playing again. But the player's contractual status is a source of concern to football's rulers, who fear an unwelcome precedent.
Fifpro, the global players' union, has appealed to Platini to put an end to the practice that allows such arrangements. Its president, Philippe Piat, wrote to his Uefa counterpart on Tuesday urging action. "A player must belong in totality to the club he plays for," said Piat, who is a key member of the Fifa task force on financial matters, a body which is charged with looking at dual ownership of clubs and players for the world governing body.
Alex himself is open about his relationship with Chelsea. "Chelsea bought me a couple of years ago from Santos but because of the visa situation [he did not qualify for a British work premit] I went on loan to PSV," he said. "We couldn't talk about the deal at first and I wasn't allowed to say anything. Then they started talking about it, so I could too."
Last month the president of the Dutch football association, Mathieu Sprengers, warned that any repeat of Chelsea's deals with Alex and Alcides, another Brazilian defender at PSV, might see their Champions League participation threatened.
Sprengers, who is also a member of Uefa's executive committee, said: "At this moment the relationship between Chelsea and PSV Eindhoven is not too dangerous. But it will be a completely different case if there are going to be more players than just Alex and Alcides [involved]. You could imagine what happens when the number of Chelsea players under similar deals as Alex and Alcides goes up to five. There would be serious question marks." -
Alex is not our player yet, say Chelsea
The controversy over the ownership of the Brazilian defender Alex, whose goal eliminated Arsenal from the Champions League on Wednesday, took another twist last night when Chelsea denied that they were the owners of the player despite PSV Eindhoven's disclosure that they "rented" him from the Premiership champions.
There has long been the suggestion that the impressive Alex and his Brazilian team-mate Alcides, 21, have some connection with Chelsea but Ronald Koeman, the PSV manager, was explicit in his post-match comments on Wednesday. "He is a Chelsea player and PSV rent him because he is still not allowed to play in England,"he said.
While loans are commonplace in football, the practice of buying players and registering them at other clubs remains a new approach that is regarded in many quarters to be against the spirit of the game but not banned outright by the rules. It means that clubs with the resources of Chelsea would, theoretically, be able to control the market for the best players by placing them at different clubs, who would then pay for the privilege of having the player in the short term.
The player himself confirmed the arrangement after the match. "I know my contract belongs to Chelsea, but I'm a PSV player now," Alex said. "Yes, I would love to play in England in the Premiership and we will see what happens at the end of the season and whether I stay in Holland or get a chance in England with Chelsea. It would be great for me to play for a fantastic club like Chelsea. That would be a dream for me."
However, Chelsea have now indicated that they do not own Alex and said that both Koeman and the player had misunderstood the agreement that exists between them and the Dutch club. Chelsea claim that instead of any ownership of the two players they have an agreement with PSV that they will be given the first refusal when the Dutch side come to sell the pair. The agreement would give Chelsea a period where they could negotiate exclusively with PSV.
In a statement last night, Chelsea said "He [Alex] is a PSV player. His international transfer certificate is held by them and he is registered with them. We have an option to buy him at the end of the season. He is not a Chelsea player and we have no control or influence over his selection."
Uefa, European football's governing body confirmed yesterday that Alex is registered with PSV but the nature of the agreement that Chelsea have with PSV, and who paid the reputed £5.7m transfer fee when he left Santos in Brazil in 2004, is still not entirely clear. The problem for Premiership clubs dealing in the world transfer market is that obtaining Home Office work permits for players, especially from South America, is problematic.
However, there are other ways of players obtaining eligibility. Other clubs are believed to have farmed players out to Spanish sides, where footballers can play without a work permit and then qualify for an EU passport after two years. -
can summarise anot?
cant understand...
ps hor -
Controversies... I wonder if FIFA would sanction a replay. If that is the case and Arsenal goes thru, it will be Arsenal vs Liverpool. Cool!
Cheers.
C.K -
Is Chelsea trying to cover their back-side after the cat got out of the bag?
PSV manager Ronald Koeman, already said he is "rented" by the Dutch club
Alex himself is open about his relationship with Chelsea. "Chelsea bought me a couple of years ago from Santos but because of the visa situation [he did not qualify for a British work premit] I went on loan to PSV," he said. "We couldn't talk about the deal at first and I wasn't allowed to say anything. Then they started talking about it, so I could too."
We will see Alex eventually goes to chelsea...
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u mean, dey might make PSV forfeit?
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i bet this issue wouldnt have came up if arsenal went through