Why can't you sack a footballer ?

Question

Shouldn't footballers be subject to the same employment terms as mostly everyone else in this country, and be sacked when they overstep the line?

I've only heard of it happening in very extreme situations.

Answer 1

You can sack a footballer. But as mentioned, they have contracts which have clauses which entitles them to compensation should the contract be terminated early.

Adrian Mutu was sacked from Chelsea for taking drugs.

Answer 2

The problem is that if they sack them after paying millions to sign them then some other club will come along and get them for free. Governing bodies should take some responsibility and start dishing out some serious punishments to both players and clubs. How can you expect kids playing in junior leagues to respect officials if they see the top stars acting like Drogba and Ballack did? Personally, I'd like to see UEFA absolutely hammer them for it, a lengthy ban for both players and suspend Chelsea from European football for the next season or two. Football is a business to those who run the clubs, so the only way to deal with this sort of conduct is to make it very, very expensive to the club. And suspending someone for a couple of weeks or fining them a few thousand pounds isn't gonna cut it. It's a shame that with all the money they make footballers are incapable of showing the referees a little respect. I'd like to see FIFA amend the rules to make it so only the team captain is permitted to approach the referee without being summoned and any vulgarity, abuse or aggression at all to the referee is a straight red card. It's a tad draconian, but something has to be done to stamp it out. And it's not impossible for there to be respect, look at rugby, the players there show respect to the referees, yet the overpaid prima donnas in football can't manage to.

Answer 3

They are goverend by the standard legislation and can easily be sacked. The difference is the cost to the employer could be huge: sports agents spend a great deal of time and money filling their client's contracts with an unbelievable number of clauses which cover the sportsperson for the kinds of situations you could only ever fantasize about.

Footballers have become a tradeable commodity: as an analogy, you could buy a bunch of cows to sell at a market years later. If one of them behaved badly, you wouldn't just throw it out - you would still bring it to the market for sale. As football clubs make huge investments in players, they really want to see a return, whether it be on the pitch or in the transfer market. Sure, my company would sack me if I missed a day because I'd been arrested for drink-driving, but a football club? To them, that's just an occupational hazard of 'owning' players.

Answer 4

Of course a manager can sack a footballer, but the club has to indemnify the player for cancelling contract before the time (FYI, footballers are employed on contract basis!).

If a manager does not like a player, it is easy: just keep him on the bench, and when the transfer window open just sell him to get money.

Anyway, sometimes a troublemaker can be very decisive when the team need result.

Answer 5

I can't top PETER G's answer.

All I would say is that the only person at a football club who is likely to get sacked when the club struggles is the manager, who is merely a scapegoat.

With all respect to Leeds United, Coventry City and West Ham United.

Blackwell, Adams and Pardew are all examples of this.

Answer 6

Have to disagree with the above answer as Gavin Peacock got the sack from Sheffield Wednesday last season for gross misconduct and Wednesday didn't have to pay his contract up.

Answer 7

you can sack a footballer, but let me put it to like this, would you sack a machine that cost you millions of pounds, and simply throw it out, NO.

so by sacking a footballer with a value you are throwing money away.

Answer 8

So you can sack a footballer, as you've said, so your question has been answered by yourself.

Answer 9

Course you can, you can give him the boot.