The Neymar craze challenges us all: Consistent abstinence and NO
Old-timers fondly remember the game of games: "Monopoly". We were all dirt poor back then, but buying houses, utilities, and streets was already fun. Especially when the goal was to bankrupt as many other players as possible. And collect high rents. You just have to acquire as many property rights as possible through rolling the dice - in the German version, that's 22 streets, four train stations, and one electricity and water company. And build houses; rake it in.
"Monopoly" is available in 137 countries and in 36 languages. The sheikhs in the deserts of this world apparently don't know what to do with all the sand they were "oil-soaked" from.
We all know:
After a week of studying Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, or Qatar, we long for green forests, currywurst, and the Bundesliga. After the oligarchs from Russia, it seems that the white-robed figures have discovered the "Human Resources Monopoly". And if you get caught in a lodge by a camera or sit next to a young famous footballer at a press conference, that's much nicer than letting sand grains boringly run through your hands.
So enough of that.
222 million was the unprecedented transfer fee for Neymar at Barcelona written into the contract. Nothing easier than that, said the head of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and the ruling house of Qatar and struck a deal. Besides many banks, car companies, and the airport in Luxembourg, from now on it must be football players who are shot into a value cosmos that will forever remain closed to normally thinking mortals. They quickly moved on from Park Lane to Liverpool, Dortmund, and Monaco.
They want Kylian Mbappé for 150 million, they can't get Ousmane Dembélé because he wants to go to Barcelona, they want to pay 130 altogether, but Dortmund, as the only joint-stock company in the league, wants 150. For a 20-year-old, who is certainly talented and secured the DFB Cup for Dortmund in Munich, it's actually unimaginable. He sticks his head insulted in the sand, with which the sheikhs play, and mutinies without any knowledge of how fortunate he is to be able to play as his "genetic fingerprint" allows him.
We thought that the 100 million mark had been capped somewhere with Paul Pogba and Gareth Bale. No such luck. Barcelona has been sponsored for years with oil and gas money, Real Madrid has been running advertising for the airline Emirates for years. In the Champions League, they play against Manchester City, owned by the sheikh of Abu Dhabi. Here, Pep Guardiola earns 25 million euros a year. In the first year, completely unsuccessful, so he was allowed to buy half a billion in human resources capital again.
Compared to that, oligarchs like Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich with Chelsea London seem almost like day laborers in the evidently inflamed "gambling addiction of the super-rich." What the Qatari did at TSV 1860 Munich in size 36 is well known to everyone. Of the 25 most expensive player transfers in the past ten years, 9 were made by clubs owned by oil and gas sheikhs. It's now all about the Park Lane and Mayfair of this world in the form of young players who do not realize they have become playthings in the hands of Arab and Russian gamblers and shell game players. In between are flag sellers, high-voltage electricians, Turkish sports cars, and fathers who cleverly exploit this "Human Resources Monopoly" of the "Giants of the Green Fields."
They call themselves player agents.
Neymar's father first pocketed 40 million in commission fees, Neymar himself (25) 30 million a year. Mesut Özil's father surely also earns a double-digit figure. Lionel Messi earns between 150 and 200 million a year from advertising contracts. Cristiano Ronaldo is said to generate up to half a billion with the BRAND Ronaldo. When faced with tax payments, one immediately becomes part of the "Snowflakes" generation. Melting and moving on.
Thanks to the player agents and fathers who treat their proteges like puppets and idols of modern times. In humble Germany, it continues. Anthony Modeste from FC is such a case of megalomania among the Chinese. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang too. He supports a greedy African clan of 25 people, whose addiction must be satisfied. 10 million a year is not enough. In the winter break, he will finally move to China. The commodity of football is hybridized and exploding, talented players play well, and they are sold for millions, player agents line up at the football pitches of the German youth leagues and promise parents the "moon". Knowing full well that only 1% of talents make it to become a real Bundesliga player. No rules - no compliance agreements - FIFA's failure for years under a man no one remembers: Sepp Blatter. The highly criminal Swiss networker. And the German Football Association, which has dedicated itself to the "Human Resources Monopoly" like a soul seller to the devil.
What to do?
Unfortunately, fracking is banned here, so no oil and gas can be expected like with the sheikhs. Therefore, I suggest using buildings and streets for players, in consultation with the cash-strapped city treasurers. So Cologne Cathedral for Messi. Cologne could build a new stadium in Bergheim. Maximilianstrasse for Ronaldo along with the Bayerischer Hof. Mönckebergstrasse for Mbappé: Mr. Kühne, you have nothing to laugh about anymore. Forget your few million that didn't bring anything to HSV. German Rail buildings and the Brandenburg Gate together for Zlatan Ibrahimović, who will still be playing in three years, and Luisenstrasse in Hanover for the gambler Max Kruse from Bremen. It may not be long, but it's valuable. Stuttgart Stock Exchange for Jürgen Klopp, as they are already poaching coaches, scouts, and physiotherapists.
So all good.
No, unfortunately not. Rule 2 comes into effect.
Since there will be no rules, as the unrecognized and recognized sheikhs of this world continue to gamble. Since the "sheikification" will eventually lead to total anesthesia and we will inject the "sheikification" into ourselves like the white Eloi in the 1960 film adaptation of H.G Wells' "The Time Machine" as babbling drunks, because we have become addicted. No: Fail, switch off, unsubscribe from the Champions League on Sky and Eurosport, end it quickly and renounce it. Only we ourselves, football enthusiasts and fans, can stop this madness. So from now on, on Saturday and Sunday, it's time to: Return to the family and...? Take out the old, beautiful, and best-selling board game on earth and enjoy it with your family. It also has a higher purpose. Away from the smartphone towards the board game. At least for a moment.
And on Sunday, then go to the A or B youth teams in your cities.
Empower the youth to recognize what is happening to them in the sands of the sheikhs.
That is already a lot gained. I, for one, will not watch a single Champions League game. Instead, I will go to the Franz-Kremer-Stadion in Müngersdorf to watch the U19 team of 1. FC Köln.
Good luck!
Speakers
