The Argentinean football, between the TV, bets and the State (Yahoo)

The season 2009/20 of the Argentinean football should start on the 14 of August next but this date is in danger; the union of the football players complained to the president of the national federation (AFA), Julio Grondona, not to allow the clubs to continue registering players meanwhile they indebt a lot of money to their own players and even to those that left their institutions.

For the first time, Grondona, also first vice-president of the FIFA, accepted the situation and determined that the AFA will not accept registrations meanwhile the debt of these clubs exists, but at the same time asked to the State the implementation of a bet system by internet, that already exists in many countries and the TV by cable, that broadcasts matches by the system of Pay per View, a substantial increase in the rights payment.

Grondona insists to request a meeting with officials of the Argentinean State in order that the implementation of a system of bets on line is allowed, that at the moment is prohibited in Argentina and that had caused a lot of problems in Brazil, where since three years ago, their own contest Brasileirao, the most important of that country, had to delay eleven matches for corruption demonstrated with regard to the bets.

What Grondona is petitioned since the different football players stratum and some sector of the national press is that the most important income that should the directive insist on is not the implementation of a system of bets but to recover the loot of the fortune that comes to the clubs from the television.

Only from this season, the totality of the Argentinean football clubs will receive 262 millions of pesos (about 69 millions Dollars) meanwhile up to the last season was received 230 millions (60 millions Dollars) meanwhile now the TV by cable company recognizes that they have 5.600.000 subscribers to the TV by cable and from them, 800.000 subscribers pay the system PPV what shows that there is at least out of phase annual of hundred million Dollars what indicates approximately, with the different exchange rates, the debt of this decade may reach a fortune of one thousand millions for the clubs.

Until a few days ago the great incognita of the system of football by Cable TV cable or by PPV, in Argentina, was to know how many subscribers paid monthly, because from there it could be seen how much corresponded actually to the football. For instance, Grondona himself maintained this week that he though that the quantity of subscribers was of 6.700.000 and claimed a payment of 10 to 12 pesos (from the 106 paid monthly, added to the 32 of the PPV, in some cases), approximately between 10 and 11 percent of the total of the monthly bills).

The companies of image reproductions of Cable TV and the company that has TV rights of the Argentinean football until 2014, TRISA (Tele Red Imagen) systematically denied the data of the quantity of subscribers and in change the payment to the AFA always was a steady amount but the clubs and the AFA have the responsibility to have accepted not only this but they even did not put those rights in a tender since TRISA bought the rights in 1986. This is a situation that Grondona and most of the directives of the clubs should clear up.

In the meanwhile, being able to collect a fortune that the TV owes, the Argentinean football continues bleeding not being able to conserve their principal players that continue emigrating to more precious places of the planet, being better paid, due to the lack of money that fail in the local entities.

In this recess of about two months, since the end of the last season, it is calculated that the Argentinean football lost about forty players who emigrated abroad, what means a ten percent of the total of the players, if we take into account as base of a team twenty players as average of the twenty teams of first division, an impressive bleeding that deepens with the possibility that in the season 2009/10 will be played one championship sub-23 or plus-30 because players of the intermediate age irremediably emigrate.

On the other hand, the Argentinean State says that the times for the implementation of a system of bets online are not the same as that of football and that is almost impossible to do from now up to 14 of August when the season should begin, though they show the intention to help the football to return soon, being this phenomenon so strong in Argentina generating the most urgent discussion.

In Argentina already exists a bet system, the Sport Forecast (Prode), implemented in 1972 that is based on bills with thirteen matches every weekend that should be guessed, though it lost the important place being substituted by other bets of lottery and every time there arrived less money to the clubs.

What continues not being clear is moreover what the football could collect with the TV or the bets online, it is what has been done with the money that enters with the transference of the players for abroad, the static advertising and sport wear, the sale of tickets in the matches, the sale of annual tickets and so many resources that the generates this industry in expansion