 England players like Paul Scholes could become the subject of compensation claims |
Europe's top clubs have renewed their calls to be compensated by football's governing bodies for allowing their players to participate in major international tournaments. The G-14, the coalition of powerful European clubs, want Fifa and Uefa to hand over a share of the profits from the World Cup and European Championships in return for releasing their top players.
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has led the organisation's demands but has denied it are holding the game to ransom.
"It is not greed," said Gill.
 | THE G-14 CLUBS Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, Paris Saint Germain, Olympique Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Porto |
"It is being sensible and reasonable. "Very few other businesses around the world would lend their assets for free.
"We release our players for a long time over the course of a year - we have to do that.
"We have a great England team and the game in general benefits. At the same time they are getting use of our assets for free."
G-14's general manager Thomas Kurth said: "It's more a question of principle than money.
"But once we establish the principle we can talk about the sums involved."
If the proposal is approved, the deal could be worth about �40m from the next World Cup in Germany.
MMIX
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