Football business (2014)

In this look at the financial issues at the heart of the beautiful game, economist Tsjalle van der Burg adresses the many questions raised by football’s transformation from sporting pastime to big business. Football has come a long way from its roots in the middle of the nineteenth century as a sport enjoyed by amateurs who played for their local team. Now football is serious business and boys from Wales play football for Spanish clubs, whick pay 85 million pound transfer fees to obtain them. So have the billions invested in the game improved play, created more footballing legends and provided greater pleasure for the fans, or is high finance breaking the beautiful game?