Tribal Football

West Ham chief Brady: Diarra affair worries everyone

Paul Vegas
West Ham chief Brady: Diarra affair worries everyone
West Ham chief Brady: Diarra affair worries everyoneAction Plus
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady fears for football's future after last week's Lassana Diarra transfer ruling.

Diarra has won a case against FIFA after being blocked from moving from Lokomotiv Moscow to Charleroi ten years ago. The European Union say FIFA's transfer laws violate the EU's freedom of movement.

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Brady has since said: "The outcome of the Diarra affair worries everyone. But one thing is certain: if a player has the right to terminate his contract because he wants to go elsewhere, then his club could do the same. It would be total chaos and anarchy. If players were able to break their contracts and move around the world, the entire system would collapse."

Brady also said: "This money can change the life of an amateur or semi-amateur club. If there are no more transfer fees, there will be no more of this money and the impact will be incredible.

"Currently I can pay £80 million to buy a player on a five-year contract and make the investment sustainable in accounting terms. But if that player could go to Manchester City for free and I had to pay £80 million every time, we would already be bankrupt."