English Panel held on 21 January in London
SUMMARY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE
REVIEW PANEL
PANEL MEMBERS
Allan Mullery—Independent expert;
Dennis Smith—Independent expert;
Mike Walker—Independent expert;
John Young—Football Association;
John Bramall—Professional Footballers Association;
Andy Williamson—Football League (Bristol Rovers
application only);
Mike Foster—Premier League (Chelsea and Southampton
applications only).
Application by Bristol Rovers Football Club
for a Work Permit for Vitalijs Astafjevs
Recommendation
The Panel considered written evidence from the
Club which included testimonials from Keith Peacock, Assistant
Manager of Charlton Athletic Football Club, Gary Johnson, Latvian
Head Coach and Einars Fogelis, Director of the Latvian Sports
Department. The Panel also took oral evidence from Ron Craig,
Club Director, Roger Brinsford, Club Secretary and Ian Holloway,
Team Manager.
Mr Craig informed the Panel of the Club's recent
history with particular emphasis on the financial commitment he
and others had made to the Club. He also stressed that Latvia
were only one place outside automatically qualifying under the
published criteria. As an emerging and newly independent country,
they would take longer to get into the top 70 average countries
in the FIFA rankings but were now 63rd and rising quickly. Mr
Holloway then expanded upon this and gave a long and impassioned
talk on the Club's long term plans of which Vitalijs Asafjevs
would play a vital role. He is currently Latvia's most capped
player. Compared in skill to other Latvians currently playing
in the Premier League he is an attacking midfield player, with
excellent timing and vision who can score goals regularly. Mr
Holloway felt that a player of his undoubted quality would not
only provide an important element to the team's attempts to gain
promotion but would be an excellent example to his younger players.
Mr Astafjevs was judged to be a model professional and would,
in the Club's opinion, be a major asset and command an immediate
place in the team. He was seen as an investment for the future
and a key player for their promotion ambitions (Bristol Rovers
are currently 2nd in Division 2). He also stated that employing
the player was a major financial risk for the Club and not one
which would be taken lightly, indeed the Club was borrowing further
money to finance the signing. They also stated that to ensure
the Club's future they had made substantial investments in their
youth and reserve teams. Mr Holloway made the general point that,
in his opinion, British Clubs were pricing players out of the
market. He had made enquiries for Non-League Players who had been
valued at £250,000.
The Panel asked why no other Clubs had been
interested in the player. Mr Holloway said others were showing
an interest in him, including trials for Millwall and QPR. Further
discussions centred on the player's ability, thought to be at
least Division 1 standard. He would also be in the top five wage
earners in the Club. The Panel agreed that the Club had made a
compelling case for the employment of Mr Astafjevs. They were
convinced that he was a player of high technical ability who would
have a major impact at Bristol Rovers and recommended, unanimously,
that a work permit be issued.
Application by Chelsea Football Club for
a work permit for Rati Aleksidze
The Club's solicitors provided written evidence
which included five witness statements testifying to Mr Aleksidze's
quality as a player. The Panel also took oral evidence from Colin
Hutchinson, Club Managing Director, Gwyn Williams, Assistant Team
Manager and Mick McGivern, Director of Coaching. Nicola Kerr of
SJ Berwin, Chelsea's solicitors, also attended.
Mr Hutchinson explained that Chelsea's continued
growth and success over the past decade had allowed them to attract
world class players to the Club. He made the point that although
Chelsea were viewed as a major employer of overseas players that
they currently have only two work permit holders. He stated that
Football is a Global game and it was Chelsea's aim to continue
to strengthen their squad on the basis of ability only, not on
nationality. Mr Williams went on to say that the Club had a strong
and well established youth set-up. Indeed Mr Aleksidze had been
to Chelsea for trials in 1996. He was marked as a young player
of unique talent. This sentiment was endorsed by Mr McGivern who
was convinced that Mr Aleksidze had, even at that stage, all the
attributes and skills necessary for a career in Football at the
highest level coupled with an excellent attitude to his work and
colleagues. The player had committed himself to signing for Chelsea
in 1996 but only when the time was right for both parties. He
subsequently developed a very successful career in Georgia, becoming
Captain of his Club team, Dynamo Tiblisi, a very powerful European
Club side, at 19 and a regular member of the Georgian Under 19
and Olympic teams. Written statements from the Georgian Football
Federation made the case that it had been a tactical decision
on their part to play Mr Aleksidze at Olympic level rather than
in the full National Team, even though, in their opinion he was
capable of securing a regular place in the full National side.
The Club were keen to secure Mr Aleksidze now as his contract
with his home club expires shortly. The Panel asked what would
be the repercussions if the application were refused. Mr Williams
said that Mr Aleksidze would most certainly sign for a major Spanish
Club and Chelsea would be forced to pay a significant sum in the
future to get him back to the UK. The Panel questioned that, given
the number of world class players in the current Chelsea squad,
would Mr Aleksidze be an immediate part of the team. Mr Williams
stated that Chelsea's squad system could not guarantee anyone
a first team place but that Mr Aleksidze would immediately join
the 20 players in the first team squad and, in his opinion, be
in the starting 16 each Saturday within a few weeks.
The Panel agreed that although still young in
terms of International experience, Mr Aleksidze was a player of
outstanding ability. He is an attacking midfielder who plays predominantly
on the left of which there is a current dearth in the English
game. The Club had made convincing arguments that they be allowed
to employ a unique talent which they had nurtured in the initial
stages of his career. John Bramall of the PFA was not convinced
that Mr Aleksidze would immediately command a first team place.
All of the other Panel members were convinced that a work permit
should be issued in respect of Mr Aleksidze.
Application by Southampton Football Club
for a work permit for Imants Bleidilis
The Club submitted written evidence including
testimonials from Gary Johnson, Latvian National Coach and Nils
Johan Semb, National Coach of Norway. The Panel also considered
oral evidence from Brian Truscott, Club Secretary, Dave Jones,
Team Manager and Marian Pahars, current work permit player with
Southampton and Latvian International.
Mr Truscott began by stating that, in the Club's
view, the use of FIFA rankings to determine the quality of a player
was flawed as there were a number of ways of interpreting the
FIFA rankings which would give varying results in terms of an
individual team's position. The Club had commissioned Leeds University
to carry out a study of the way the FIFA rankings were collated
and averaged out. A copy of this report was given to Panel members
for information. The Club were informed that Overseas Labour Service
would examine the information to ensure that the way the FIFA
rankings are collated are fair and transparent. (We will seek
expert opinion within the Department and advise the Minister of
their recommendations.)
Dave Jones then explained the Club had originally
sought to sign Mr Bleidilis last season when they signed his compatriot
Marian Pahars but lacked the finance to do so. They judged Mr
Bleidilis to be a player of similar quality to Mr Pahars who had
been highly successful since his move to the UK and compared him
to Andrei Kanchelskis who was a successful player with Manchester
United, Everton and Rangers. Marian Pahars stated that Mr Bleidilis
was a very skilful International colleague with more caps than
himself. They felt they had to sign him now as other clubs in
Europe had shown an interest. Marian Pahars' success had also
proved to be a factor. Mr Jones explained that the Club had a
comprehensive scouting system in place covering Clubs in all Divisions
of the Football League in an effort to recognise talented players.
He had attempted to sign a number of British players but the price
had been prohibitive with many, in his opinion, grossly overpriced.
This was a concern to the Panel members but John Bramall stated
you could not control market forces. The Club were convinced that
Mr Bleidilis was a skilful right winger who would be an immediate
asset to a Club currently struggling near the foot of the Premier
League.
John Bramall and John Young felt that Mr Bleidilis
would not make a sufficient impact on the English game as he was,
in their opinion, an addition to a squad rather than a genuinely
gifted player in his own right. However, the rest of the Panel
were convinced that Mr Bleidilis was a player of high quality,
a regular Latvian International who at 28 was in his prime. Therefore
on a majority decision it was recommended that a work permit be
issued.
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