Someday never comes

A lot of money could buy you power but not respect. Or so they say...

Money power ain't the same as respect

So much for good judgement

We can all agree that people do not go by what is right or wrong, but simply do whatever is in their immediate best interest; not their best interests in the long term ('coz in the long term we're all dead), but their best interests in the immediate future. Now if this were a tale of right and wrong, the short-term glory seekers would get the misery they deserve, and the prudent chaps with their credo of sustainability would get to say 'I told you so'. Somehow, that day just does not come by.

So much for big money

Take a peek into top-flight European football. On one hand there are the big and financially unsound spenders like Chelsea, the two teams from  Manchester (both City and United), Real Madrid and Barcelona - buying today's glory at the cost of tomorrow's survival. On the other hand, there are the prudent teams - Arsenal, Valencia, Tottenham and the likes, struggling to make it to the Champions League (a top football team's equivalent of keeping its head above water). It is the same in Germany, with the moneybags at Bayern Munich buying their way, with talented teams like Borussia Dortmund struggling to keep pace.

Someday never comes

Michel Platini and FIFA's plans should someday place both groups on a level playing field (pun intended). But like Creedence Clearwater Revival said it back in the 70s, someday never comes.

But for every big club that is constrained by the FIFA constraints on spending limits, there's going to an upstart like a PSG or a Malaga that gets a shot of petrodollars from Russia or the Arabian gulf.

Every year, there will be an exodus of promising talent to these mercenary outfits.

Every year, the Arsenals and Dortmunds will have to wait for yet another year.