These were the words of Norbert Lammert, the leader of Germany's parliament and possibly the most powerful Norbert in recorded history. It seems that Lammert has finally realized that professional soccer players gracing the larger European leagues get paid ungodly sums of money. In other news, beer is still delicious and footbal=popular. While we at Das FanHaus applaud Norbert for his populist approach to sports entertainment, we can't help but think there's an unsettling trend going on in Das LawHaus."I am annoyed about the constant and substantial excesses which have blighted sport for years - particularly in football,"
"If the wealthiest German football club buys a Brazilian teenager for 14 million euros and gives him an income which most family men can not gain after years of hard work, something is wrong."
(Source: AFP)
At first glance, the commissars are deriding the Bundesliga giants like Bayern Munich for their exorbinant salaries that dwarf the common workingmensch. Upon closer inspection, however, they are just as guilty themselves. According to research at DW-World.de, the average German worker takes home about 28k a year. Meanwhile, the basic pay for a member of parliament is about 72k a year. Sure, those Brazilian youngsters booting the ball around make many times over what either example takes in yearly salary, but maybe the lawmakers should start setting the examples with their own paychecks. Thoughts about limiting the German transfer budgets or increasing footballers income taxes are probably not the best way to attack the problem. We're guessing average Joe Berliner doesn't care how much one-named Brazilians are earning as long as their favorite club refrains from sucking.
(HT: The Offside)
