Arsenal Guilty of Employment Discrimination
By: Trent | March 12th, 2007
No, not against Englishmen. We’ve been over that already.
Instead, Arsenal’s policy of not extending more than one-year contracts to players over 30 may run afoul of new legislation aimed at age-discrimination in hiring practices.
A solicitor is quoted as saying, in relation to over-30 goalkeeper Jens Lehmann:
“The whole nature of discrimination law is that you must not stereotype – and some clubs are generalising that all footballers over the age of 30 are somehow inferior and therefore not suitable for longer than a one-year contract. [W]ith goalkeepers most do not come into their own until they are 30. If Arsenal were to say, for example, that there had been some situations this season where Lehmann was not as flexible as before, was not quick enough off his line any more, therefore we think his physical abilities are reducing, then they may be able to justify the decision, in his case, not to grant more than a year’s contract. But the problem is their policy does not seem to be linked to individual ability it seems to be linked to an arbitrary factor, which is age.”
Can’t argue with that. And showing more flexibility in such contracts can make Arsenal even more attractive to star players on the transfer market.
What do you think? Keep a simple rule that applies evenly, or allow for differences in the effects of age on ability?
 |
EPL Match Schedule |  |
 |
Discount Travel to London & Arsenal |
| Arsenal Scores |  | Emirates Stadium information & hotels |
Category: 
Tags: age, Arsenal, Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, employment discrimination, Transfer News and Player MovementSubscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
Generally, I agree. I think Wenger is far too quick to write off players once they reach 30. The rigid insistence on offering one year contracts to these players is just not good management. But then he’s not always consistent, if my memory serves–what did he do with Bergkamp? I forget now. Bergkamp left the club at, what, 35? Did he stay those 5 years all on one-year contracts? When we look at older players like Scholes and Giggs, we see that players of that age can revive. A year ago people were writing off those two as over the hill and in decline. This year they’re firing on all cylinders.
Posted from
United States
Comments are closed
Home 
