G-14

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Map of the G-14 in Europe.

The G-14 is an organisation of European football clubs. It was founded in 2000 by 14 leading clubs to provide a unified voice in negotiations with UEFA and FIFA. New members may join by invitation only. In August 2002, four more clubs joined, taking the membership to 18, although the organisation has retained its original name.

Essentially a pressure group, they have often been linked to various initiatives to create what the media have called a European Super League, although this is often denied. These reports were particularly common during 2003 when UEFA took the decision to drop the second group phase from the Champions League without the consultation of the participating clubs. G-14 took this as justification that they are needed within European Football to create what they call a ‘voice for the clubs’.

The G-14 clubs are spread across seven different countries, and have won around 250 national league titles between them. Three come from each of the top divisions of England, Spain, France, and Germany,two from the Italian Serie A, and one from the Serie B (Following Juventus' demotion), two from the Netherlands; and one from Portugal. G-14 members have won the European Cup/Champions League 41 times out of 51 seasons.

The 2004 Champions League final was the first in that competition since 1992 in which one of the finalists was not a current G-14 member; the 2004 final featured member Porto and non-member AS Monaco. There have been only three Champions League or European Cup finals where both teams were non-members of the present G-14.

In the other existing major UEFA club competition, the UEFA Cup, fourteen finals have featured two non-members, compared to only three that have featured two G-14 clubs. 2005 was the first final since 1989 to be contested between two non-members - CSKA Moscow and Sporting Lisbon. In 2006, the UEFA Cup was contested again between two non-members Sevilla and Middlesbrough.

[edit] Court case against FIFA

As the leading Clubs in European Football their power on the world stage was best demonstrated during the FIFA World Cup 2006 where they provided 22% of participating players. This has supported their assertion that national associations should pay players wages whilst on international duty and provide compensation in the case of injuries.

In April 2004, G-14 initiated a preliminary investigation into FIFA by the Swiss Competition Commission, when they complained of FIFA's requiring their players to be available for FIFA international competitions without compensating the clubs. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has refused to negotiate with the G14 on the matter.

On September 5, 2005 the G-14 clubs decided to take FIFA to court over paying players for internationals after the Belgian club Charleroi lost Abdelmajid Oulmers in November for eight months when he was injured playing for Morocco.

If the G-14 are successful in their court case against FIFA, it could effectively mean the end of international football between national teams; this is because so few countries football associations would be able to afford to pay for big name multi-million earning stars to play on their team (especially poorer countries like Brazil, whose current international footballers are among the highest paid club players in the world). This would mean national teams comprised of "affordable" low to mid level players.

Already foreseeing such a situation, there has been talk^{[citation needed]} of creating a "World Cup" for club teams instead and many feel certain this is the next step after the conclusion of the court case (if the decision is in the G-14's favour). The case is still pending.

Prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup the G-14 Members demanded a 'fair percentage' of receipts from tournaments, such as the World Cup to compensate for the clubs releasing players to compete in these tournaments.[1] This came after Belgian club Charleroi lost Abdelmajid Oulmers for eight months when he returned injured after national duty with Morrocco.