UEFA bemoans ‘Bosman’ legacy

THE 10th anniversary of the Bosman ruling, which revolutionised football transfers in Europe, has led UEFA to claim rich clubs are now richer, poorer clubs are poorer and unlawful traffic of young players from abroad has increased.

December 15, 1995 was the date the European Court of Justice ruled that within the European Union, no transfer fee could be asked for a player at the end of his contract and the number of foreign players in a team could not be limited.

European football’s governing body UEFA complained that the ruling had ignored the “specifity of sport” and brought about a host of problems within the professional game, including the illegal traffic of young players from Africa and South America.