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Javi Poves - Revolutionary or Nutjob?


GarethRDR

Was Javi Poves right to quit the game for the reasons he gave?  

14 members have voted

  1. 1. Was Javi Poves right to quit the game for the reasons he gave?

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    • Yes
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The Telegraph"]Sporting Gijon defender Javi Poves quits 'rotten' game in disgust and calls on top players to help others

Defender Javi Poves has quit La Liga club Sporting Gijon, saying he has taken a stance against a sport he describes as "rotten".

The 24-year-old Spaniard is walking away from the game after rescinding his contract with the north-coast club, for whom he played in the Spanish third tier with Sporting's B team.

"The more you know about football the more you realise it is all about money, that it is rotten and this takes away your enthusiasm," Poves told Spanish daily ABC's website (www.abc.es) on Wednesday.

"What point is there is earning 800 or 1000 euros if you know that you are obtaining it through the suffering of many people."

Daily El Pais reported that Poves refused to allow the club to pay him via a bank transfer, he said so the banks could not speculate with his money, and that he returned the keys to a car that had been provided to players by sponsors.

Poves's stance against what he sees as a corrupt sport has struck a chord in a country where many young people, known as 'los indignados', have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against the government's policies.

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Though on the face of it one might not seek to question Poves's allegedly altruistic intentions, the cynic might argue that in quitting in such a manner Poves's profile will be higher now than it ever will have been throughout the entirety of his footballing career. As a sometime optimist I'd like to think that isn't the case at all, but it's certainly true that - before reading this article - I (and I'll bet most people outside of Sporting de Gijón's fanbase) had ever heard of this guy.

So, is Poves sincerely championing a worthy cause or is he just pissing into the wind?

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Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Football players from Spain's top two divisions vowed to go on strike at the start of the season if the team owners don't provide "guarantees" that hundreds of players who are owed back wages are actually paid, the players association announced on Thursday.

"We're not asking for more money. We're just asking to be paid what's due," Juanjo Montener, spokesman for the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE) told CNN.

Association leaders, flanked by some of Spain's top football stars, such as Real Madrid goalie Iker Casillas and FC Barcelona defender Carles Puyol, held a news conference at a central Madrid hotel, vowing to strike but leaving the door open to further talks to try to resolve the dispute before the season opener scheduled for August 20.

But the Professional Football League (LFP), representing the clubs in first and second division football, issued a statement soon after saying it "doesn't understand" the players' call to strike.

The club owners said they had been negotiating in "good faith" with the players association and that club owners on August 3 established a new "guarantee fund" that would "guarantee some important quantities of the salaries of players affected" by club bankruptcy proceedings.

Montener said 22 Spanish football clubs in first and second division have had financial problems serious enough to involve bankruptcy or receivership proceedings. He said 300 players have filed complaints that they are owed back wages.

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