We offer one-year extensions to players over 30, and this has been happening for a while, since Wenger got here .. It is upto the club to decide whether a player deserves an extension as there is a lot of money involved in player wages etc .. But was reading this article that says that according to Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, age discrimination at workplace is unlawful .. My father's an advocate, so i know how crazy law get at times and sometimes sounds illogical too .. But when it is a "law", it can be illegal to go against it .. I'm not from England and not really familiar with the laws that are currently in place, but can anyone give me an idea of what could be the outcome if they classify Arsenal policy of offering one-year extensions to older players as "illegal" and proceed to court ?!
They probably have a case. Arsenal should insulate themselves from such a case by taking it off the books..
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20061031.htm#8 Obviously for a sportsman age has a huge impact on his performance. So it's up to the arguement of whether a player above the age of 30 is too old to be offered more than a one year extension.
This policy seems a money saving scheme by Arsenal. They don't want to offer Ljungberg or someone a two year deal in case he declines rapidly and they pay him for nothing. As Arsenal will have more money going forward they may not stick to this policy so strictly. The consequences of the policy are that some of the older players leave early and perhaps prematurely because they can get longer deals elsewhere.
With all the youngsters posting on these boards......how many people, do you think, understand your reference?
All that will happen is the courts will deem 30 as the retirement age for footballers, much like 65 is for the rest of us..