Neymar Deal - Obscene, immoral and all that is wrong with football?

Back in 1985, aged 15 and 3/4 I remember snogging Debbie Hill in my bedroom whilst idling away the warm summer afternoon with Live Aid on the telly in the background. I vividly remember Bob Geldof swearing saying he wanted ‘a million pounds out of this country’ asap to show it was all worth it. Anyone old enough to rememeber the news of famine in Sudan and Ethiopia at the time will know what moved Bob to try and do what he could… ultimately Live Aid raised around 85mil that year, a drop in the ocean compared to what was needed, but its fair to say that there are people alive today because of that cash… I only mention this to try and put what we are seeing now with the 198mil Neymar transfer + 40mil a year rumoured salary into some sort of perspective.

We are now talking about sums that could have a profound impact on peoples lives, save lives, not just of a few individuals but 1000s, be it through vaccination programs, health and education programs or simply subsistence in periods of famine and drought. Does anyone feel able to explain why a footballer should feel entitled to such an obscene amount? That clubs can exchange such ‘assets’ for even greater obscene amounts is something I really cant ignore anymore…even the potential 50mil+ for VVD is way off the moral scale.

I cant do anything about it, I know, but it does mean I can no longer reconcile a love for the sport with a feeling that by supporting it either with tickets of TV subscriptions, I am part of this obscenity. Football at elite club level, has lost any sense of morality yet seems comfortable with itself ignoring what it has become, defending itself with the rhetorical bullshit of ‘market forces’, demand and ‘the pleasure it gives millions…’ the reality is simply the greed we know about, that infects every walk of life, but for it to go so far within what should be a simple passtime is not something I cant ignore. I dont think we as fans should ignore it either.

Fans seem able to get together to pressurise government on stuff that is ultimately trivial- be it safe standing, or ticket prices, but where are the fans groups who feel that football’s moral compass needs recalibrating before the obscenity that is Neymar (a right greedy, egotistical cunt) is the norm?

What is Sotonian’s position on this obscenity and is there something that could be done?

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I agree with you. It is obscene and has been for some time. I caught a bit of TalkSport yesterday and that twat Adrian Durham was defending it. People need to make a stand. Stop their SKY subscriptions. Boycott matches. Stop paying over the odds for replica shirts. Will they though? I doubt it.

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The mere existence of Riches don’t offend me tbh. I don’t really know why people (particular politicians) always want to single Football out either. I don’t begrudge Neymar earning what he earns anymore than I begrudge J.K.Rowling, who probably earns 10 times as much writing books about gay wizards.

The magnitude of transfer fees seems even more Irrelevant, in that it’s just money circulating round football clubs. It ain’t like they’re throwing it on bush and setting fire to it, i.e PSG have $198m less and Barcelona have £198m more. What difference does that make to Starving Africans?

In any case I assume the Tax Man has got his snout in all this, so the more they spend, the more The People benefit, which is gd thing.

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Thing is Bearsy, its about what it symbolizes IMHO, that we are Ok with this level of money being taken from ordinary fans to make the elite and their agents obscenly rich …yet there remain huge challenges elsewhere. I only single out football here as its a football site and the Neymar transfer is now splashed everywhere and it does beg the question of where it will stop - and its not as simple as 198mil simply going from a to b and back round as ultimately the fans, armchair and gate, feed money in at the bottom like some giant pyramid scheme, for the few at the top to earn ridiculous sums… its ridiculous and given the amounts immoral in all honsesty

I dunno man, I feel like football is prob one of the most moral industry on planet. You know, they don’t tend to squirrel there tax arrangements off shore, they all have community charity stuff going on, they do a lot for kids & young people, they do filter lot of dollar down into grass routes etc.

I mean, say I was pumping £1000 a year into football industry. It’s prob a better spend than it ending up with them bastards at Nestle or Amazon or Tesco. I mean, obv I’d prob do better to give it to Childline or someting, but that at least is My Choice.

Think there is already other threads where you go on and on about ‘middle class’ fans - that is not the theme of this thread…

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Because there aren’t countless other threads full of people moaning about the state of modern football or the figures involved? This thread is hardly covering unchartered territory.

I don’t really get why the Neymar deal is the straw that has broken the camels back for so many, tbh.

What exactly is the tipping point? £1m, £5, £15m, £50m, £100m - it’s been at a point of being detatched from reality for years anyway. Why is football the thing that draws this ire?

Also, I can’t understand why Neymar is becoming such a hate figure? Jealousy perhaps? Who the fuck would turn down the money he is being offered? I don’t think the money is his main motivating factor, tbh. He’s already rich beyond belief, I think he wants to be the main man - which he’ll never be whilst Messi is around - so that he has a shot at winning the Ballon d’Or, which is still a big deal in Brazil.

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I’m more annoyed at the DUP wiping their sweaty bits all over my tax money than a few Catalans spending Qatari fortunes.

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Sorry Bearsy, my fine ursine friend, the tax thing is just as bad, but we dont know about it… plenty of players probably have their earnings from playing in Europe diverted to Switzerland - certainly image rights from global campaigns… just tax avoidance as opposed to evasion so legal but still just as morally bankrupt… and how many of them will spend the 1 afternoon every 3 months at the kids hospital if it were not part of their contracts?

KRG, my response to Barry was because he was going off on his middle class fan tangent which is not the theme of this thread- you may feel there are ‘plenty of other’ threads on the issue, but I dont see one that is discussing this… its not broken any camels back, its been shit for some time, but this latest round of obscenity is a big step towards another level. It was a question; is it something fans feel comfortable with… for me the answer is no… its easy todimiss it as monoply money circulating, but as with the lackof competition it creates, I am just at the end of what I think is paletable… its getting to the point where I am starting to lose interest in it all because there is no justification for the amounts or how it ends up in a few elite clubs eroding competition… apart from greed.

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It’s all Jimmy Hill’s fault.

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But why now?

The example you gave, Live Aid '85. Bob Geldof’s goal was £1m, to help out with a famine.

At that point there’d already been 6 years since the transfer of the first player for £1m. Is that not obscene and immoral.

I think the numbers have been ridiculous for years, if anything, the fact that fees stayed (relatively) flat for as long as they did is somewhat surprising, given the influx of money over the past decade or so.

I struggle to believe this isn’t the straw, you’ve literally named Neymar in the thread title - and then gone on to call him a cunt? Because he’s accepted a move? Or because he’s accepted an offer put in front of him? I’d have a hard time turning that sort of fee down, in all honesty.

Is it a question? You seem to be answering it yourself, and berating people that disagree with your opinion (Adrian Durham).

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The world has gone absofuckingloutely mental. Don’t even start me on Neymar…

Seriously, how much money does a person need? Once you have your mansion(s), fast cars, bling etc what do you do with the rest? I know football is a short career and most don’t make anyway near the money Neymar is on, but I genuinely don’t see that he needs this sort of cash. Perhaps he will give most of it away to charity , can’t see that tbf.

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Er… no. Why now? Because 198mil is double the previous highest obscene amount - its Fecking big news… its topical…
I am not sure why you are going on about straws TBH… its a topical issue that for me has put the spotlight on the moral question, not for the first time but certainly worth debating given its topical nature… I have indeed answered my own question… afterall iI am clear about my opinion on the issue… I have not ‘berated’ anyone except Barry for going off on a tangent… the rest is just debate so I dont get what point you are making? If you think its all fine, great, you seem to be trying to suggest the discusion is pointless… in which case you dont need to participate, but I am interested to hear from folks as to why they think its fine as well as those who think its all fucked. Neymar is a 'cunt’for being such and egotistical tosser… IMHO, if it was not about money, why to PSG feel they need to pay him 40mil a year?

PS… I have added a question mark to the title… although IMHO, its not necessary as it was rhetorical…

As has been said, this isnt really a tipping point. Football transfer fees and wages have been ridiculous for some time now. This one just highlights how stupid things are. The NHS is underfunded. People are crying out for money to cure dreadful diseases. Still, we pay people stupid amounts of money to kick a ball around. We live in a crazy, fucked up world.

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Is the problem here footballers making money, or just anyone making any money?

I still don’t see how anyone has actually answered the point Bear made - re: J.K. Rowling.

Football was, and always has been a business. This isn’t anything new. Why do people expect clubs to be anything different?

Debbie Hill @areloa-grandee ??

She came round mine in the evening and I copped a feel at the youth club disco after a bottle of white lightning :zap: cider.

She told me you wouldn’t do tongues…

:lou_wink_2:

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…This transfer and contract is a footbal issue, not one of other businesses where there are also issues with obscene amounts… but teh thread title is about football on a football site, not Authors earnings… sory Bearsy. In the current climate KRG, I dont expect football to be any different, I am not questioning that. I am suggesting its obsceneand impossible to justify… as a result I dont have the ‘love of the game’ I used tobecause morally its just ridiculous… teh point of the thread is to guage others views… and if they dont agree, how to they think these levels are justifiable - saying ‘its a business’ is a tad lazy.

…This transfer and contract is a footbal issue, not one of other businesses where there are also issues with obscene amounts… but teh thread title is about football on a football site, not Authors earnings

If it’s the transfer and contracts in football that are the issue, why are you going on about Live Aid & governement spending?

I am suggesting its obsceneand impossible to justify…

I’m not trying to justify it, I think it’s been unjustifiable for years. I’m asking why people (in general) seem to be so raging about this specific transfer.

as a result I dont have the ‘love of the game’ I used to because morally its just ridiculous…

Didn’t you say this last year about Koeman, Mane etc?

teh point of the thread is to guage others views…

I’m literally asking why this example has angered people so much. Which is pretty in line with this.

saying ‘its a business’ is a tad lazy.

That’s not what I’m saying.

Durham’s argument was that it was controlled by “market forces” so that makes it ok. It is, but that doesnt make it ok. He also said that money feeds down to the lower reaches of the game.Hmmm. Is that why school playing fields are being sold off? If kids cant play football at school, how does that help their development? As for the arguement that they have to make their money now because it is a short career, why? The rest of us have to work until we are 65 plus, often in different jobs as there are no jobs for life anymore. Why are footballers different (and only top ones at that, those in the lower leagues dont get paid that sort of money and have to go back to work)? I dont know what the answer is, but surely at some point this madness has to stop?

I shall be watching the women play tonight. They seem to be playing for the love of the game, something that vanished with the love of money in the Premiership.

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