Personal injury claim news - 06/11/2006

Sports Minister speaks out against compensation claim

The controversial issue of personal injury compensation in football has once again hit the headlines following comments by Sports Minister Richard Caborn.

The Labour MP has spoken out against Belgian club Charleroi and their attempts to sue FIFA after one of their players was injured whilst representing his country.

The Jupiler League team are making the compensation claim against the game's governing body following an injury to Moroccan midfielder, Adbelmajid Oulmers, who damaged his knee ligaments in a November 2004 match against Burkina Faso.

Such was the extent of his personal injury that the player was unable to kick a ball for eight months and was forced to sit on the sidelines as his club team mounted, and ultimately lost, their bid for the league championship.

His employers, Charleroi, claim that their player's injury was a key factor in their failure to win the league and, because FIFA insist that players are released to be able to play for their national team, are holding them responsible.

The case is awaiting trial at the European Court of Justice and, if successful, national associations such as England's FA could be held liable for players who were injured whilst playing in international matches and so would have to pay compensation to their clubs.

It is this likely result that Richard Caborn has slammed, highlighting the problems that some of the world's poorer nations would face.

"In a decade African teams won't be in the World Cup if the decision goes the wrong way," he said.

"The likes of Cameroon would not be able to afford to insure its players."

Others have echoed this sentiment and national associations across the globe fear the potential whirlwind that could sweep through the game if Charleroi's landmark compensation claim is successful.

Many players from the world's poorer countries ply their trade for multimillion pound salaries in Europe's big leagues and their football associations would simply be unable to fork out the money that would be required to cover the cost of insuring them in the event of personal injury during an international match.

The Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, for example, earns in excess of 75,000 a week with Chelsea and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o is rumoured to pocket significantly more at Barcelona. It is highly unlikely that either of these countries would be able to afford the premium to insure them against injury and so would be unable to pick them if Charleroi's case proves fruitful. In such a situation, football would, without doubt, be the only loser.

Despite all the protests from FIFA officials and Government representatives such as Richard Caborn, there is no doubt that those pursuing the compensation claim through the European Court of Justice are arguing a fair point.

As Newcastle United chairman Freddie Shepherd so aptly put it not long ago, "If you lend tools to someone and they come back broken, you shouldn't have to pay for the repair."

In the big-money world that football now resides, players really are no more than objects used for the gain of the business; the business in this case is the club that pays their wages. Therefore, it's only fair that the clubs want to protect their players from personal injury and if, because of someone else's fault, they are hurt, then why should the fans, the chairman and the club in general pick up the tab?

There is no doubt that the decision of the European Court of Justice could have a monumental effect on football throughout the world and time will only tell whether or not the devastating impact predicted by Richard Caborn will come true.