Some of you may have seen a piece – see the link below – that first appeared in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph followed rapidly by an insertion on the front page of the Daily Rant, sorry Daily Mail, the day after. Clearly it must have been a slow news day but to those of us involved with local sport – and its not just cricket that is implicated here – the topic of illegal payments to players was of great interest.
I have been banging on about this for years, having paid my weekly fiver to play the game of cricket, often for the pleasure of being peppered at the crease by some hired gun. As regards the odd verbals thrown my way as well, most times I have not even been able to understand these, although I suspect they question my ability or parentage, should I last long enough that is.
The Taxman targets village cricket clubs
Like most supposedly amateur sports, cricket flirts with dubious, secretive payments made in darkened corridors or carparks as clubs seek to get one up on their peers by engaging the odd hired gun or two. Why is unclear as to my knowledge we are not competing for a Champions League slot nor huge financial rewards. “Talent money” is not new; many generations ago hundreds watched local league matches and stayed to swell the bar coffers. These days, however, games are sparsely attended as are club bars with many more options on a Saturday night and all conscious of drink driving; ironically league administrators still resist change to the game arguing the detrimental impact on bar incomes.
Most of these underhand payments are quite clearly illegal but leagues generally take a progressive view on the matter, namely one of denial and delusion. The harm that this outward flow of money does to clubs, often simply struggling to survive, is ignored by clubs and leagues alike, until the pot runs dry. Many clubs continue to blow fortunes whilst ground and practice facilities decay. Quite often, people simply look the other way and I suspect not all the money taken from the till lands with the “Pro”; the “agents” cut is alive and well here.
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When Saturday comes a familiar picture unfolds and clubs that can find the money increasingly chase a dwindling talent pool with folded notes exchanged furtively, hoping that if HMRC cannot tackle big elephants like Starbucks and Vodafone, then the black economy is safe on a Saturday afternoon. Where the money comes from few seem to care but how radical to suggest spending it on improving facilities; surely not? Now, it appears that HMRC have clearly decided that tackling local sports clubs may be a touch easier than going in to bat against the multi-nationals and Treasurers, used to counting the cake stall money, will be quaking nationally.
Whilst the theme of both newspaper pieces veered to the hysterical along the lines of the unfairness of it all, the fact is that unpalatable as their practices are, what the likes of Google, Starbucks, Vodafone and many more get away with is clearly legal, all of them having paid armies of accountants to establish this. Paying your builder, cleaner or opening bowler in cold hard cash knowing that not a penny in tax is being accounted for is not. All in it together?
Where there is scope for understanding is where many clubs have brought across an overseas player – not all of these can actually play cricket by the way…read on below – who may genuinely add value to the much trumpeted Big Society. If a guy receives board and lodgings in return for coaching a club’s kids for the summer, you don’t need to engage KPMG to wade through the tax implications of a paid for flight the odd snaffled Mars Bar.
Where I would argue they should be hammering away is where individuals who are domicile are picking up illicit payments without declaring these as taxable. In a cricketing sense, each week First teams become a mix of those paid, those that still pay to change alongside the mercenaries and those shoe-horned in because nobody else wanted to play. Consequently, Second teams are often a mix of the senile and the infantile meaning, inevitably, some youngsters are pressed into First teams before they are ready, which damages their confidence, development and appetite for the game. With the focus on paying out to hide a myriad of issues, development of talent becomes very secondary.
Of course, many of these players are very good but then again if I was getting paid to play then I would hope I had at least some talent. It would also be nice to sit in the bar and share a drink after a game, whatever the result, to mix with these guys but many are gone before the steam vanishes from the shower room. What good is that for any club?
I first wrote about this a few years ago in my first book A Critics’ Corner, so maybe HMRC found a copy? If clubs are whinging about the injustice of it all, how do you really feel about the next man in the pub sliding a few quid in his pocket (tax-free) as you go to work and have to stump up your taxes? This is damaging the game and the clubs that make these payments are being run into the ground by egotistical, short-sighted idiots. Eventually, the cash dries up and the players are gone leaving the die-hards – assuming they have not left in frustration – to pick up what is left assuming the gates have not been shut.
Here is what I wrote circa 2010/11 regarding our experiences, albeit hardly major league, with the non-paid overseas “Pro”. And to those clubs locally that may be fearing a visit after years of flashing the cash…good luck with that one.
Chapter 20 “A Critics’ Corner” available now on Kindle and from no good booksellers
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