Are Fifa and Uefa coming down hard on English clubs?

Is their success at luring talent and the financial success of the English Premier League turning English clubs into victims? Fifa recently gave Chelsea a 12-month ban on any transfer activity for “tapping” or inducing Gael Kakuta from French club Lens in 2007.

The charge says Chelsea induced the youngster to break his contract with Lens and sign for them. The matter was brought to the fore after Lens complained to Fifa. The player has been ordered to pay €780 000 and gets a four-month ban from competitive matches whereas the club are to compensate Lens for training the youngster to the tune of €130 000.

So far Chelsea have said they will appeal the decision by Fifa’s dispute resolution chamber. Manchester United reported Real Madrid last year for unsettling Cristiano Ronaldo with a transfer from Old Trafford to the Bernabeu, but no action from Fifa came. Eventually Sir Alex Ferguson managed to convince Ronaldo to remain at Old Trafford. In February an agreement was reached with Madrid that if they don’t sign the player at the end of the season they will have to pay him £26 million. Isn’t that the same as tapping or inducing? Tapping has been part of the game for a very long time. It’s been going on for decades but then it seems bizarre that Chelsea are being victimised and made an example of.

The Chelsea saga comes in the wake of Arsenal’s Eduardo da Silva two-game ban for diving or as they put it “deceiving” the referee in Arsenal’s Champions League game against Glasgow Celtic. Eduardo took a tumble that won his team a penalty. He scored and they went on to win the game. Following was a public outcry. Uefa then launched a disciplinary proceeding against Eduardo. Tthe striker will be required to serve a two-match ban, which will rule him out of the first two group-stage matches. Arsenal have already issued a statement saying they will appeal the decision. They posted this on their website: “We strongly believe that the decision taken is deeply flawed and not based on any forensic review of the video evidence available. There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in Uefa’s judgment and we intend to appeal.”

Diving or deceiving the referee is nothing new in the game, it’s been there for a very long time. Uefa did not take action against Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in 2006 in a Champions League match against Chelsea when he play-acted and deceived the referee into giving Chelsea’s Asier del Horno a red card. A match which Chelsea ended up losing because of the incident. It also led to the outspoken Jose Mourinho, who was then Chelsea manager, to say: “Can Messi be suspended for acting? Barcelona is a very cultural city. You know all about theatre. You have theatres of high quality.” Chelsea’s Michael Essien was suspended by Uefa for two games in 2006 after the group game against Liverpool for a foul that was missed by the referee at the time.

Manchester City bid £100 million for Kaka in January when he was still at AC Milan. Michel Platini said astronomical fees where not welcome in football because they caused an imbalance in European and world football. He had this to say at the time: “How one guy can cost €150 million is ridiculous from a social, football and financial point of view. It’s why we have to do something to have transparency and fairness in football. It’s not good for the popularity of football.” Four months later Real Madrid made a £56 million bid for Kaka and then an extra £80 million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The action that was promised in January during Manchester City’s bid never materialised and Real Madrid managed to get away with it.

Are Uefa and Fifa applying different rules and regulations for English clubs and others for Continental clubs (Spain, Italy etc)?