Words in the News Wednesday 06 November 2002 Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
Football wages Summary: Eighteen of Europe's biggest football clubs have agreed to restrict the cost of wages which are threatening the future of the world's most popular sport. This report from Hugh Pym.
For years money kept rolling in to Europe's football clubs. The growth in transfer payments and player salaries seemed limitless. But the climate's changed. TV rights deals in some countries have collapsed. The days of big money transfers are numbered. So now the G14 clubs, as they call themselves, have decided to tighten their collective belts. At their meeting in Brussels today, members -- including clubs like Bayern Munich and Barcelona, as well as the British representatives -- agreed to impose a ceiling for player wage bills. The aim is to keep them to seventy percent or less of total turnover.
But can it be enforced? The answer technically is no - it's a voluntary agreement and there are no penalties for those who don't control wages. However, the G14 group also announced a commitment to link pay more closely to performance on the field. The veiled warning to players was clear - if there's no action, more clubs will struggle or even go bust.
