Recently, an article appeared in Het Parool about the European Sport Economics Association Conference, organised by Thomas Peeters. Peeters is an associate professor at Erasmus School of Economics and coordinator of the Erasmus Center for Applied Sports Economics (ECASE). The conference, attended by 80 sports economists, was held at Excelsior Rotterdam's Van Donge & de Roo stadium.
The central topic of the conference was the recent court cases at the European Court of Justice that have rocked football. These included the December 2023 rulings on the much-discussed Superleague and the homegrown player rule. A ruling on the transfer system in the Diarra case will follow this autumn. During the panel discussion, experts Oliver Budzinski, Stefaan Van den Bogaert and Michael Leahy shed light on the implications of these rulings. The panel delved into the role of FIFA and UEFA in the organisation of international competitions, the balance of power between large and small football clubs, and the consequences for players and agents. The discussion was introduced and moderated by sports economist Dr Thomas Peeters.
The current transfer system in professional football today is characterised by extremely high fees and football clubs making deals with other clubs without too much consultation with players. ‘We want more freedom for players,’ says Irish former professional player Michael Leahy of the international players' union Fifpro. ‘We hope for the introduction of collective bargaining agreements in football.’ With Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Professor of European law at Leiden University, Leahy and Budzinski formed the panel opening a three-day conference organised by sports economists at Erasmus University in Rotterdam on Wednesday, in a room at the Excelsior stadium.
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You can download the full article from Het Parool, 23 August 2024, above.
