Platini blasts transfer window

UEFA president Michel Platini London - Arab Today UEFA president Michel Platini on Friday dubbed as "unhealthy" the current transfer system, adding that he backed shortening the length of the inter-season transfer window. Speaking as Real Madrid prepared to shell out a world-record fee for Tottenham's Welsh forward Gareth Bale in the region of 100 million euros ($132.4m), Platini said questions over the morality of such a payment were not new. The same question was being asked when "Maradona was transferred for five million, then again when Zinedine Zidane signed for Juventus, and Cristiano Ronaldo for Real," argued Platini. "It's 30 years since we've been asking the question, it's not something new." Platini added: "But the question really is: do Real Madrid have this sort of money to pay? If Real Madrid had bought three players at 30 million euros each we wouldn't even be asking that question, and they could pay over 5-6 years, which would amount to 15 million euros a year." Platini said he would favour shortening the transfer window and also dubbed the whole transfer system "unhealthy". "Nowadays, a player is more a product. We, and firstly FIFA, must all think about something healthier," he said. "Players don't even belong to clubs, but financial holdings or people, it's a step back 50 years in time, it's shameful, it's become a big business." Source: AFP