Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis calls for salary cap

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Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis calls for salary cap

• Ivan Gazidis calls for wage restraint in Premier League

• Former MLS deputy commissioner hails 'profitable' Bundesliga

David Conn

The Guardian, Thursday 2 July 2009

Arsenal's chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said the Premier League should consider introducing a salary cap for its clubs as a way of encouraging financial stability and more even competition throughout the league.

In an interview with the Guardian, Gazidis repeatedly emphasised the virtues of Arsenal's "self-sustaining finances", comparing that policy favourably with other clubs which rely on billionaires' munificence. Pointing out that Premier League clubs do not make profits in general, despite record income, he said players' wages are set to grow even more, which would further threaten clubs' profitability.

With Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, reportedly prepared to pay Samuel Eto'o £180,000 a week, Gazidis also argued for restraint. "I think it is worth our while to investigate whether there are elements of the salary cap system, which they have in US NFL and baseball, which would benefit football," he said.

"Clubs have a duty to provide more stability in our business models and some form of wage restraint is one element worth looking at. There are many different ways in which it could work."

The idea of a salary cap has never gained support with Premier League owners, who have always preferred the free and unregulated system in which they can pour in money to buy the players they want, and then pay them what they want.

Gazidis has been schooled in the traditions of US sport, having been the deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer, a highly regulated league with a strict salary cap, for 14 years before joining Arsenal in January. He pointed out that clubs which rely on rich backers need to find new owners quickly when the funding runs out, and he believes that creates too much instability into football.

Gazidis is part of a European clubs' association working group considering improvements to the financial running of football, and he referred admiringly to Germany's Bundesliga – "the only profitable league," he said– which has tight restrictions on the debts clubs can carry, and insists they live within their means.

Today the Arsenal board will consider a proposal from Alisher Usmanov, the Russian with 25% of the club, for a rights issue of shares which would raise new money for the club. Gazidis would not disclose details of the suggestion, but his response to it was guarded. "I am open-minded and we have commissioned Rothschild [the merchant bank] to advise the board," he said. "We have to be sure it can make a real and lasting contribution to the club."

Whats your thoughts on the salary cap issue raised by Gazidis please discuss your thoughts I would like to here the opinions of LFC fans on this subject.

Think that this would ruin City's plans for world domination!!

Don't think it would help with making it a level playing field, the top 4 will continue to attract the top players and offer them the cap, and noone would want to go to City, Sunderland, Villa etc when they know they could get the same wages at the better clubs challenging for honours. So would just serve to make even more of an imbalance to the league.

Not sure it'd take off though.

Just look at what happened to Max Mosely in Formula One when he suggested caps on money in the sport. Similarly, the bigger clubs will always get it their way, regardless of what everyone else wants.

He can call for a taxi too

although a wage cap would be good, it would have to be put in place by Fifa, at a global level, not simply the FA imposing it, that would just mean a exodus from the prem. to other leagues