Wednesday 30 August 2017

IS THE FOOTBALL TRANSFER MARKET SINFUL?


The Republic of Ireland assistant manager and former Manchester United football star, Roy Keane, his tongue buried in his cheek, says his former colleague David Beckham would be worth one billion pounds in the current football transfer market. He put the same price on Ruud Van Nistelroy and topped the shopping list with a two billion price tag on Ryan Giggs.

He said: “It’s mind-boggling, the figures that are out there – especially for the average players. If ever there was a time to be a professional player it’s now. Average players are going for £35million. … that’s the market place at the moment … ”

Mind-boggling’ is a good word. Other words applied to the transfer market are ‘crazy’, ‘ludicrous’ and ‘mad’. Some people have applied the word ‘broken’ to the market.

Roy Keane also expressed surprise that Paris Saint Germain paid £200 million for Brazil and Barcelona star, Neymar. Roy Keane says it’s not the players fault that these fees are being paid by clubs.

Is the notion of ‘fault’ applicable to this market?

If it is, then another word can be added to the descriptions of the market and that is ‘sinful’, as in: The transfer market for professional football players is sinful.

Religious figures, who are knowledgeable on matters of sin, might consider bringing the word to bear on the commercial trade in the skills, physiques and temperaments of soccer players.

Roy Keane’s balloon puncturing remarks may prompt religious leaders to consider the question: when does a market become sinful?

On page 899, deep in the glossary of the Roman Catholic Catechism, sin is defined as:

An offence against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. Sin is a deliberate thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the eternal law of God.

Other definitions exist, but, on the basis of this one, the transfer market does not appear to be a sin, as it is not an offence against God or a fault against reason, truth and right conscience. Does this mean that no market can be sinful? The definition, however, does not include either offence or fault against humanity, which the transfer market certainly is, as noted by the many people who apply the word ‘scandalous’ to its activities.

Is the word ‘sin’ too old-fashioned for modern day markets, where the response to such pricing seems to be a shrug of the shoulders in a gesture of fatalistic acceptance? Are there no firebrand messiahs out there who would turn over and scatter the money tables and put the run on the dealers?

Any one for the sport of commodity and hedge-fund trading?