Are we to believe in such case that tapping up has been quashed?
According to the rules and regulations formed and apparently enforced by FIFA and the FA, a football club must not form contact with either a player or his agent without acquiring permission from the football club he is currently under contract with.
In light of these clearly outlined rules it is easy to recognise how a meeting in the Royal Park Hotel involving Ashley Cole of Arsenal, his agent, the then chief executive of Chelsea Peter Kenyon and Manage José Mourinho would be considered an illegal approach by Chelsea Football Club.
Although tapping up has never been so profusely exposed since 2005, only the FA could be so ignorant in believing that tapping up has been eliminated for nearly 7 years. Tapping up today has merely become more complex, albeit often more transparent than ever before.
Contact being made between both club and player agents remains one of the most typical forms of tapping up. For the most part, this form of tapping up is difficult to expose. However every summer, discretion is thrown out of the window. Just this year we have seen the media reveal both Demba Ba’s and Joe Allen’s release clauses. These figures should not have been unveiled unless another club’s approach met that figure. If things are as they appear, it can surely be assumed that the player’s agent has spoken to either a media source or the club itself. Liverpool was once fined by the FA in similar circumstances when they ‘fortunately’ made a bid for Christian Ziege in 2002, which met the release clause fee exactly.
For as much as Liverpool has fallen guilty of tapping up, they will also find themselves victim. It all seems very much to be a case of swings and roundabouts. Just last year, Liverpool fans watched in horror as their player of the year was snatched up by in the closing hour of the transfer window. Raul Meireles handed in a impromptu transfer request which was shortly followed, in what felt like minutes by a formal Chelsea bid. Contact was undoubtedly made between player and club, yet no prosecution.
Agents have obviously got a financial incentive, who can blame them, its their job. And most people, even some footballers (Benoît Assou-Ekotto) are in their job to make money. So when you have the stinking rich Manchester city waving wads of cash about, who can blame the agents of Samir Nasri and dare I suggest it Robin Van Persie for wanting a little sniff. How can a player and his agent, after illegitimately getting a nose full of whatever City are offering, then accept what would now appear a substandard deal from their current club.
Even if this form of tapping up fails, it still has negative consequences for the club who have fallen victim. At the least the club are forced to offer their player an inflated deal. For the perpetrators of this unlawful approach result is always a plus.
Wenger, who it seems has fallen victim to tapping up more than any other Premier League manager had this to say when he was asked whether he believed Manchester City had overstepped the mark in their pursuit of Nasri. "I would like to return the question to you – what do you think? We live in a realistic world. I do not want to assess what I cannot prove. I know how things happen.”
It need not have been a journalist that Wenger returned the question to. Every football fan that follows the transfer window closely can see tapping up laid bare. Barcelona’s crude pursuit of Cesc Fàbregas over many years demonstrates what Wenger called a lack of respect for the rule. Almost every pivotal figure amongst the club had aired their single minded views. Furthermore the situation with Fàbregas illustrated most how no matter what any governing body do, it is almost impossible to prevent clubs using their international players as messengers between pursuing clubs and targets.
It seems the FA has sat on the fence for far too long now. Either the FA scrap the rule or enforce the rule more comprehensively.
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