A decade ago a little-known Belgian by the name of Jean-Marc Bosman saw his surname enter the football lexicon. Soon players 'Doing a Cole' could be as familiar as players 'Doing a Bosman' thanks to the Ashley Cole tapping-up scandal and an inventive, if distasteful, defensive strategy.
Incredibly, the sorry 'Colegate' saga could have Bosman-esque ramifications and make illegal approaches a thing of the past.
It is understood Cole, charged with approaching Chelsea while under contract with Arsenal, will argue that Premier League rules constitute a restraint of trade.
The Arsenal and England left-back will defend his right to contractual freedom under employment law; in other words, the ability to actively look for a new job, just like anyone else in any other line of work.
What makes this so excruciatingly distasteful is that for so long Cole and agent Jonathan Barnett denied meeting Jose Mourinho and Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon in a London hotel to, allegedly, discuss a move to Stamford Bridge.
Now Cole appears not only to have accepted that the meeting took place, but that breaking Premier League rules to do so was entirely just and will be mounting a case which effectively paints him as the wronged party.
The upshot is that the Premier League's Independent Commission, chaired by the former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Philip Otton, has a test case on its hands which could have similar repercussions to the landmark Bosman ruling.
The Bosman case came about because of Jean-Marc Bosman, whose contract with Belgium's RFC Liege had expired. He wanted a transfer to French outfit Dunkerque. However, Liege refused to let the player move without the payment of a transfer fee which Dunkerque refused to pay.
In 1996, after much lobbying by Bosman himself, the European Court of Justice ruled that out-of-contract players could move between clubs without a transfer fee and abolished the quota system restricting the number of foreign players a team could field.
Bosman's success was based on 1957's Treaty of Rome which sought to guarantee European citizens' right to 'freedom of movement' within the EU. The epoch-making ruling paved the way for the mass influx of foreign 'stars' and the trend for players to wait out their contracts, move for free and pocket huge joining fees which in the past went to the selling club as a transfer fees.
Of course, there is some way to go before 'Colegate' becomes as infamous as Bosman, but the potential significance of the case has not been lost on the Premier League or the Commission.
The 'nature and complexity of the defence put forward' has seen the Commission delay next week's hearing until May 17 and 18, three days before Cole and Arsenal meet Manchester United in the FA Cup Final.
On March 23 Cole was formally charged under Rule K5, which governs approaches from players to clubs, while Chelsea were charged under Rule K3, governing approaches from clubs to players. Mourinho was charged under Rule Q, which governs managers' conduct.
In the first instance Cole's restraint of trade argument could be a moot point, because the three-man commission is solely charged with ruling whether the League's rules were broken.
The drama would unfold if Cole were to appeal an unfavourable ruling by challenging the League's rules in court, which could in turn force the League to rewrite its rules thereby allowing players to talk to any club at any time, the day after they'd signed a contract if they so wished.
The Premier League is adamant that its rules do not illegally restrict players and is expected to vociferously defend itself in the face of, what for many is, a flagrant and cynical attempt by Cole and his advisors to shift the agenda away from any culpability on his behalf.
The Commission's main role is to discover, on the balance or probability, who arranged the meeting at the Royal Park Hotel on January 27.
And that leads us to the somewhat shadowy figure of self-styled 'Super agent' Pini Zahavi, who was, or wasn't (depending on who you believe) present at the hotel.
Zahavi is well known for helping to broker high-profile deals, and despite not being a direct representative of Cole or Chelsea it is quite conceivable that none of the charged parties arranged the meeting at all and that Zahavi, who has close connections with Chelsea, was the 'fixer'. Such is the murky world of agents.
The Premier League has accepted that 'As licensed agents, Mr Jonathan Barnett and Mr Pini Zahavi do not fall within [our] jurisdiction', which could leave the Commission stymied and forced to refer the case to Football Association.
As well being a 'Super-agent' Zahavi counts Rio Ferdinand among the stars he represents and for many it is no coincidence that Ferdinand and Kenyon are embroiled in 'chance' meetings.
But if Cole's defence is successful and results in a rewriting of the rules, Rio, much to Sir Alex Ferguson's annoyance, can have dinner with as many club chief executives as he pleases, and there won't be a thing he or anyone else can do about it.
From soccernet.com
Incredibly, the sorry 'Colegate' saga could have Bosman-esque ramifications and make illegal approaches a thing of the past.
It is understood Cole, charged with approaching Chelsea while under contract with Arsenal, will argue that Premier League rules constitute a restraint of trade.
The Arsenal and England left-back will defend his right to contractual freedom under employment law; in other words, the ability to actively look for a new job, just like anyone else in any other line of work.
What makes this so excruciatingly distasteful is that for so long Cole and agent Jonathan Barnett denied meeting Jose Mourinho and Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon in a London hotel to, allegedly, discuss a move to Stamford Bridge.
Now Cole appears not only to have accepted that the meeting took place, but that breaking Premier League rules to do so was entirely just and will be mounting a case which effectively paints him as the wronged party.
The upshot is that the Premier League's Independent Commission, chaired by the former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Philip Otton, has a test case on its hands which could have similar repercussions to the landmark Bosman ruling.
The Bosman case came about because of Jean-Marc Bosman, whose contract with Belgium's RFC Liege had expired. He wanted a transfer to French outfit Dunkerque. However, Liege refused to let the player move without the payment of a transfer fee which Dunkerque refused to pay.
In 1996, after much lobbying by Bosman himself, the European Court of Justice ruled that out-of-contract players could move between clubs without a transfer fee and abolished the quota system restricting the number of foreign players a team could field.
Bosman's success was based on 1957's Treaty of Rome which sought to guarantee European citizens' right to 'freedom of movement' within the EU. The epoch-making ruling paved the way for the mass influx of foreign 'stars' and the trend for players to wait out their contracts, move for free and pocket huge joining fees which in the past went to the selling club as a transfer fees.
Of course, there is some way to go before 'Colegate' becomes as infamous as Bosman, but the potential significance of the case has not been lost on the Premier League or the Commission.
The 'nature and complexity of the defence put forward' has seen the Commission delay next week's hearing until May 17 and 18, three days before Cole and Arsenal meet Manchester United in the FA Cup Final.
On March 23 Cole was formally charged under Rule K5, which governs approaches from players to clubs, while Chelsea were charged under Rule K3, governing approaches from clubs to players. Mourinho was charged under Rule Q, which governs managers' conduct.
In the first instance Cole's restraint of trade argument could be a moot point, because the three-man commission is solely charged with ruling whether the League's rules were broken.
The drama would unfold if Cole were to appeal an unfavourable ruling by challenging the League's rules in court, which could in turn force the League to rewrite its rules thereby allowing players to talk to any club at any time, the day after they'd signed a contract if they so wished.
The Premier League is adamant that its rules do not illegally restrict players and is expected to vociferously defend itself in the face of, what for many is, a flagrant and cynical attempt by Cole and his advisors to shift the agenda away from any culpability on his behalf.
The Commission's main role is to discover, on the balance or probability, who arranged the meeting at the Royal Park Hotel on January 27.
And that leads us to the somewhat shadowy figure of self-styled 'Super agent' Pini Zahavi, who was, or wasn't (depending on who you believe) present at the hotel.
Zahavi is well known for helping to broker high-profile deals, and despite not being a direct representative of Cole or Chelsea it is quite conceivable that none of the charged parties arranged the meeting at all and that Zahavi, who has close connections with Chelsea, was the 'fixer'. Such is the murky world of agents.
The Premier League has accepted that 'As licensed agents, Mr Jonathan Barnett and Mr Pini Zahavi do not fall within [our] jurisdiction', which could leave the Commission stymied and forced to refer the case to Football Association.
As well being a 'Super-agent' Zahavi counts Rio Ferdinand among the stars he represents and for many it is no coincidence that Ferdinand and Kenyon are embroiled in 'chance' meetings.
But if Cole's defence is successful and results in a rewriting of the rules, Rio, much to Sir Alex Ferguson's annoyance, can have dinner with as many club chief executives as he pleases, and there won't be a thing he or anyone else can do about it.
From soccernet.com
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