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Are we going to see an end to the compensation system in football? And will the last remnant of the transfer system be finally buried? The answer to these questions would be appear to be "yes" going by developments in player organisations across Europe.
Last Wednesday, the Norwegian players' organisation, NISO, won a landmark case in which they were seeking redress for their collective bargaining agreement being broken. Essentially, NISO argued that with their bargaining agreement in place, the football association was not allowed to introduce the player compensation system that has been in place post-Bosman but which is favoured by FIFA and UEFA.
When the Bosman ruling was made in 1995, the collapse of the transfer system and the fact clubs could no longer expect a fee for a player when his contract was up, sent shockwaves through the corridors of football.
FIFPro, the international players organisation, and FIFA set out to get arrangement in the system whereby clubs would be recognised and paid for their part in training and coaching players. This was when the notion of paying compensation for a player who is under 23 and moves on before his 23rd birthday came in. It originated in France between the players' organisation and it was hoped it would gain legitimacy.
This arrangement in France did indeed spread and is used by all European associations as a means for clubs to get recompense for training and coaching players if they move before their 23rd birthday. However, in Norway and Denmark, their collective bargaining agreements have no such stipulation but their associations sought to introduce the measures - hence the cases that were taken by the Danish and Norwegian player unions.
The Norwegian ruling means the collective bargaining agreement takes precedence over the FIFA-preferred compensation system and its effects are likely to be felt across the football world. And just to strengthen the player unions will be the Danish case if that too is held in their favour; similar in scope to Norway, the Danes aren't, however, expecting a ruling for a number of years.
But in the meantime, FIFA and UEFA are quickly realising their aims of compensation are not possible within a European context and that another means for redistributing income is needed.
One of the most important pillars of the new European constitution is the collective agreement notion especially in relation to the expansion of the EU and with most European associations working off collective bargaining agreements, the Norwegian ruling this week merely highlights the inability of the player-compensation system to work in a European context. It might not be on quite the Bosman scale, but the NISO ruling will shake the foundations of the player transfers and compensation system and change is on its way.
For Mads Oland, director of the Danish PFA, the system is a flawed one that will not last and what is needed is another means of redistributing the income but without obstructing the players.
"A good system but which was scrapped was the one introduced two years after Bosman whereby a pool system was established with Champions League money divided out to smaller nations like Denmark and Norway. However, it didn't last long as big clubs didn't want to be paying money into a pool system."
For Oland, an outspoken critic of the compensation scheme within FIFPro, there are two points to realise in all of this: "The compensation system doesn't work as a means of redistribution so another must be devised. But secondly, the players will want to, and must have, a say in any rules that affect them via collective agreements."
And when you think of the mess over disputed rules and the status of UCD's Alan Cawley whose move to Shelbourne was scuppered last week over compensation claims, you realise HOW localised disputes can have a butterfly-like effect across the rest of Europe. Just ask Jean-Marc Bosman.
Postal dispute causes planning
Credit card companies weren't the only ones to be affected by the postal dispute these last few weeks, Irish sport was also at the mercy of the dispute. An FAI spokesperson confirmed that most of the tickets for last Wednesday's Ireland-Czech friendly had been posted out ahead of the dispute and the one or two people who hadn't received theirs were able to come in person and pick them up.
However, the FAI did admit that they were "lucky" and that if the dispute had been in full swing by the time of the ticket posting then the association would have had to review the situation.
As it stands though, there is no contingency plan in place if such a dispute is in place at the time of the next Ireland home game which is against Romania on May 27th.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland Soccer Supporters Club has also admitted it faced problems.
A spokesperson for the ROISSC told this column:
"The major problem is in receiving annual subscriptions as they normally come in this time of year. We collect our tickets directly from the FAI and would issue the majority by hand at one of our meetings. The remainder of the tickets would be issued by post.
"Luckily tickets for last night's (Wednesday) match were issued prior to the postal dispute starting."
In athletics, alternative arrangements have had to be made to accommodate people taking part in today's Great BUPA Ireland Run. With 3,000 athletes taking part in today's event, organisers have said they had to implement substantial contingency arrangements in light of the dispute.
Fifteen hundred runner packs due for postage were instead picked up at Arnotts over the last two days and it has proved a successful means of getting around the problems caused by the postal dispute.
Major kind of pressure
Today sees the start of the Major League Soccer weekend and all eyes will be on the league's highest paid star, Freddie Adu, the phenomenon that Nike expect will single-handedly revolutionise the commercial potential of soccer in the USA.
The Gahanain-born wonderkid makes his professional debut at age 14 and is already the highest paid player in the league on $500,000 per year.
How a 14-year-old can cope with all the hype and expectation will be the bigger question for the youngster and the league, but in its ninth year, the MLS is in need of a lift and a star for the media to focus on.
Adu's debut later today for DC United against San Jose will be broadcast live on ABC while ESPN2 will show a further eight DC United games this season.
Meanwhile, each week, Adu will be coming up against the 80 MLS players who are at the bottom end of the pay scale, earning less than $50,000 in salary.
StockWatch
250p - Manchester United's share price after interim pre-tax profits rose 32 per cent to £26.8 million - but the price is down 9 per cent in a month.
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