FOOTBALL PLAYERS TRANSFERS: Another form of slavery?

Itsna Syahadatud Dinurriyah1

Football is the most famous sport in the world. Without learning anything, someone
will be easy to understand about the rules of this match just by watching it directly or not.
Especially in the past, someone could understand how the game ran just by listening to the
radio. In Indonesia this is a folk sport. You do not need a large yard to play it. When I was in
elementary school, my school boy friends even used our classroom to play it till our teachers
were angry. You also do not need a net to sign the goal or the correct number of the players;
you just need agreement with your opponent. Even you do not need any property except the
ball itself. When you watch the movie ‘Garuda di Dadaku’, the boy only needs cemetery to
practice this game.
It seems that football is a cheap sport; but it is not as cheap as it seems. In other parts
of the world, this sport is really expensive, promising and convincing especially for the
business. The one who involves in this business will be very rich, famous and wanted. Who
do not know David Beckham? He started his career in MU before moving to Real Madrid and
now lives in the United States? Anything about him will be sold expensively. In his era, MU
got a lot of profit not only because of his goals but also because of the merchandises. He also
became rich because of advertisement he promoted. People also cannot forget to Brian
Clough who became a legend of football manager because of his controversy and his success
in bringing his club into the first division. It is all about the money.
Of course money demands integrity and achievement. No money without
achievement in football. No club will hire you if you do not show any achievement in your
career as a football player or a coach or even a manager. This year (2009) Christian Ronaldo
gets his highest transfer cost because of his achievement. He was bought by Real Madrid
from Manchester United for £80,000,000. Samuel Eto’o Fils gets his €10.500.000 per year
because of his playing. Could you imagine how rich they are with that money?
Talking about footballers transfer means it is talking about a very high transfer fee.
Transfer fee is a capital sum paid by the club to whom the player is transferring. Transfers
may also involve a part-exchange in which some or the entire capital fee is paid for by
trading another player from the signing club to the selling club. Again, could you imagine the
word trading following this case? As a human being, how do you feel with that word related
with the human freedom and human right?
For centuries, people struggle for freeing human trading because it was tearing out
humanity. The slavery system just ended in the early of twentieth century. But why now, in
the post modern era it becomes popular again and it is legal even there is a rule for that. As
footballers, no matter their position in the club, they seem happy with this condition.

THE HISTORY OF SLAVERY AND EXISTENCE

Slavery is human exploitation. It refers to a situation where a human being is
considered as the property of another, and therefore he or she must obligate to perform tasks
for their owner without any choice involved. Slavery requires economic surpluses; it showed
the owner’s social stratification. In the late Republican era, slavery had become a vital
economic pillar in the wealth of Rome. So that was why in Mongol they enslaved the skilled
individuals. In the World War II, Nazi also employed some slaves for German War economy,
and in the 9th century the Muslim Caliphs used Mamluks, slave soldiers in Islam time.
Slavery had been started in the ancient Egypt. In some countries including America,
slaves had been used for working in plantation. These countries needed them for looking after
the large field of their plants and harvest. Especially in the southern America which produced
cotton, the existence of slavery was really important though finally they lost them in the civil
war. In the name of human right, the slaves got their freedom. But for some slaves, being
slave was or is really wonderful. They accept being slave sincerely even enjoy it. That is what
we call natural slavery; some men are slaves by nature. If we watch the movie of Gone With
the Wind we will see how the slaves’ feeling to their masters. They even cried for their
masters’ lost. How loyal they are!
Even though is not exactly the same like what happens in footballers but it has same
sense. Both of them enjoy being traded, must do obligation without any choice, require
economic surpluses and show social stratification. Are footballers new term of slavery in post
modern era?

THE PRICE OF FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Like I said before, working in football business is really convincing and promising.
No matter what your position is, either as the player, manager or coach, it will give you fame
and money. If you are talented player, there will be many clubs will hire you or even buy you.
If you are joining in one club and another club is interesting in you, it will bargain you
through your club. Just imagine your present club is your master and your signing club is
your future master. You will be owned by other club and cannot move to other club without
its permission. You have a contract with it. The player can only leave the club if the club
agrees to terminate the contract. How strong!
 If it happens, there will be two possibilities. The first, the footballers are not profitable
anymore and the second, the other club will buy him through transferring. Transfer is an
action taken whenever a player moves between clubs. It refers to the transferring of a player’s
registration from one club to another. In general, the players can only be transferred during a
transfer window and according to the rules set by a governing body. Just imagine, the slave
market happened in the past and the master made a contract between them. The different is
because the player also must put his signature on it. Especially again because the player gets
some money for that. The more expensive he is the more clubs want him.
In this case, Real Madrid seems the richest club in the world. From the list of the
highest transfers done, the first four has been done by Real Madrid. They are Cristiano
Ronaldo: from Manchester United to Real Madrid – £80m (2009), Kaka: AC Milan to Real
Madrid – £56m (2009), Zinedine Zidane: Juventus to Real Madrid – £45.62m (2001), Luis
Figo: Barcelona to Real Madrid – £37m (2000)
Just like other trading, the sellers do not want to buy unqualified thing. They will
check the good as careful as possible. There will be medical examination before deciding
buying the players. It is also related with the organ insurance the players proposed. As we
know that being an athlete, the good and healthy body are very important. If they got injured,
they could not take a part in the competition. This is disadvantage for the clubs which buy
them expensive! For sure in the capitalistic era, they think about profit and loss.
For this condition, just imagine again how much the master sold the slave and how
much the future master bargained him. The stronger he was the more expensive they paid.
The master did not buy something unprofitable.

CONCLUSION
Living as footballers especially the players nowadays, especially in Europe, is like
living as celebrities in Hollywood. They are stars who many people adore and want their
presence the green stadium. When I was child, the viewers of football matches were only
men. But now, even the girls scream because of seeing Kaka. Confess it or not, the players’
physical appearances support their existence in front of their fans.
Their life is also glamorous with a lot of money. Just like movie stars who wear
ordinary cloth in their acting, they wear usual sport costumes as their uniform on the green
field. Like the Hollywood celebrities who wear expensive clothes and use luxurious cars to
the red carpet of Academy award, those players also wear expensive and branded tuxedo
when they attended Sport Award. You will not see the sweaty body and uncombed hair in that
occasion. You will see the handsome men with nice smile. They look so gorgeous.
 Could you compare it with your work as ordinary person? When you applied a job for
the first time, it seemed same like the players who played in a very small club. Then their
career increase time by time like ours, maybe. There are some hijackings done by some
companies if you are very good. But do you think your previous company will get some
transfer fee for that, and do you think that you will do that in obvious agreement? I do not
think so. When you get the new offer, you will resign from the previous office properly. And
you leave it for better salary. The football players do it too but without any resign letter
because their ‘owner’ releases them sincerely.
Unlike us, before entering new club they do medical exanimation because their bodies
are really worth. For sure, they earn better salary. The insurance for their organs are even
more expensive than that. Any insurance company will ensure my voice as a teacher? That is
another consideration.
From the description above, I find that natural slavery exist for real in the world.
Even though the practice is quite different with the past slavery, but the idea is same. They
enjoy being ‘owned’ by other people through the real trading for better life. For instance, in
southern America the slaves cried being separated with their masters because they felt their
masters had treated them well. They also mourned for their masters’ bankruptcy.
The footballers also really enjoy being traded through transfer as long as the fee is
very good. It shows their social stratification. It is their career. Indeed, there is no physical
suffering in doing their job because they do it by the choice at first. But they work under
pressure for that. They must maintain hard for their performance. The idea of the organ
insurance is also because of it. The contract is also very obvious. But do not you think that it
is a kind of effort to change the idea of slavery smoother? Or is it the influence of absurdity in
the post modern era? So how do the activists of human right think about it?
1 A student of American Studies, Gadjah Mada University Indonesia
December 5th 2009