The summer transfer window is heating up with big money moves happening. Here are 10 experimental contract clauses we’d love to see in soccer.
The new European soccer season is upon us and many clubs are still looking to strengthen their squads. There’s still time left in the transfer window which means there’s plenty of time for more big money moves.
Each transfer comes with a contract that has some standard clauses — how much money the player will receive and how long his contract will last. However, we’d love to see some clubs add in some experimental contract clauses and we’ve put together a list of nine clauses which could give clubs more for their money.
9. Red card punished with community service
Professional soccer players live a pretty charmed life. They get to play their favorite sport for their job and are compensated handsomely for doing so. Therefore, when they receive fines or bans for recklessness on the pitch it doesn’t seem like much of a punishment to them.
There’s no doubt a player will hate to miss a match but ultimately this gives them a little time off from playing which is quite an attractive prospect considering their busy schedules. In fact in some cases players have been accused of deliberately picking up cards in order to miss matches.
So what if the punishment was more severe than just a fine or a suspension for a few games? What if clubs added a clause in each player’s contract which said that every time they received a red card/five bookings, they had to do 20 hours community service?
That could encourage players to think more carefully when they go lunging in for a late tackle or decide to chat back to the referee. There of course would be exceptions for players who were wrongly sent off or sacrificed themselves so that their team could go onto win.