Increase compensation fees, says Brown

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Craig Brown believes FIFA should increase compensation fees payable to clubs who lose their best young talent.

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Herald staff

The Aberdeen manager has spoken out after 18-year-old winger Ryan Fraser opted to reject the offer of a new contract and indicated his desire to move on after playing just two full matches for the club.

Aberdeen have already lost Scotland under-19 defender Jack Grimmer and Scotland under-21 midfielder Fraser Fyvie this year. Grimmer left for Fulham for a fee reported to be £200,000 and 19-year-old Fyvie signed for Wigan Athletic in the summer after refusing to extend his contract beyond December.Last year Chris Maguire, who had been involved in the Scotland senior squad, also moved on; signing for Derby County after his deal expired, with the clubs eventually agreeing a fee to prevent a FIFA tribunal. It is a trend which has irked the Aberdeen manager, who believes the cost of young Scottish talent is far too cheap for cash-rich clubs in England."It will happen again for sure," said Brown, whose team face Motherwell in a William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round replay at Fir Park tonight. "If we could stop it happening, we would stop it."My decision to stop it is at FIFA level. The compensation should be far, far more. The English clubs can take a gamble on them and make the boys starry-eyed with a bigger wage."If they had to pay compensation commensurate to a transfer fee, it would act as a bit of a deterrent. It wouldn't stop them because it's an uneven playing field in Europe. They get a couple of million from television and the top clubs in the English Premier League get £67m. They can gamble a couple of quid on a young player."If compensation was higher they would maybe think twice and we would get commensurate recompense to the work we put into that boy. I appeal to FIFA. They made the rule about compensation and for that they deserve credit. Now review it, see what little players have gone for, and say 'that was a steal, we must make it a reasonable amount'."Brown has also been wary of the challenge presented to his players tonight, instructing them to practise penalties in case they face a shoot-out. "That is a distinct possibility in this fixture," he said.

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Increase compensation fees, says Brown

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