Fairness in football: the pros and cons of the salary cap proposal

The gap between the rich and poor clubs has never been greater. The amount of money circulating in the game has never been higher. The number of players instantly becoming billionaires and buying fast cars and big mansions has never been higher. However, the saddest thing is that the number of clubs that go under, especially those with a lot of prestige and history behind them, has never been higher.

There is always something wrong with seeing a football club, especially one that has packed houses, struggle to break even and compete for a title. Just as the amount of money in circulation has increased, so has the cost of staying in the game.

These big increases in wages put smaller, less wealthy clubs at a serious disadvantage in terms of fighting for titles and championships. As a result, many of these clubs have been forced to make financial bets in order to attract players good enough to remain competitive. This has failed for some clubs such as Leeds United who in the span of 5 years went from being in the Champions League semi-final to the English third division.

The question remains, can this salary spiral be controlled so that it no longer hurts smaller clubs? The answer is yes, and in football it is being used only in 2 countries in the world: the United States and Australia. Both Major League Soccer and the A-League used what is known as a salary cap, which is a limit on how much a club can spend on player salaries annually.

The main advantage of this system is that it ensures that each team is competitive regardless of their income and earnings. It ensures parity and fairness for players and keeps fans on the edge of their seats when it comes to fighting for the title as no one is ready.

The main disadvantage of having a salary cap system is that it becomes very difficult for a club to retain their players. As a result, championship-winning teams rarely stay together for another season. This is exactly what happened when Melbourne Victory won 2006/07 in dominant fashion. The exodus of several players meant that Victory had a disastrous season in 2007/08. The salary cap is an even bigger handicap in football, especially if other leagues don’t have a salary cap. As a result, the best players and talents will be pulled from the leagues with salary caps, leaving fans with the leftovers.

However, the risk of losing talent is no greater than the risk of losing clubs forever. While it can be a tragedy for clubs to lose star players due to a salary cap, it will surely ensure fans still have a club to root for.