Bougherra

By FOS Editor
June 5 2011

The newspapers are reporting this morning that Madjid Bougherra has written to Rangers saying he won’t be playing for them next season – where will player power end?

Bougherra has allegedly told Rangers he won't be playing for them next season. It's believed that they have received a letter from the defender, sent by recorded delivery, telling them that he's chosen to invoke Article 17 of FIFA's regulation for the status and transfer of players.

Better known as the Webster Ruling - after Andy Webster, who became the first player to exploit it when he left Hearts in 2006 - it states that any player who is 28 or older can buy out the remainder of his contract two years after the original deal was signed.

This will no doubt be a blow to Rangers, as Bougherra has been one of the few top quality players they had left in their side and was also a fans favourite with his cavalier style of play.

For me though is shows how player power has been expanded, firstly with the Bosman ruling allowing players to talk to other clubs while playing with another. Now this one allows them to move almost whenever they feel like.

It goes to show that two classic clichés in football are true, “Contracts are not worth the paper they are written on” and “There is no loyalty left in football”.

This move this week also makes you think that Bougherra must already have some idea where he is going. This was the case with Webster who was keen to move to Wigan forcing him to buy out his contract with Hearts.

If this is the case this must mean some other club has been talking to Bougherra when he is already contracted to another! I thought this was illegal but seems to go on all the time these days….