A bit of success and the greedy bastards want a bit more,I dont agree with the amount of wages each players brings home, but at the same time if I was a player I wouldn't be turning down the contracts that are offered to me. But on a note I would be happy to accept what id been offered to me i wouldnt be going round chasing a contract...But this is plain silly

Greece players revolt


Greece v Czech Rep news
Rehhagel talks up Czechs
A reported row over bonus payments has thrown Greece's preparations for their Euro 2004 semi-final against the Czech Republic on Thursday into turmoil


So the Greek players have seen how much the Greek FA will get for reaching the semi final, and now the players want triple of what was agreed on at the start of the tournament...Thats just greed,They want to begrudge one of the poorest football fa in europe the chance of putting that money back into football in greece and giving them a better chance of success in the future...greed greed greed

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2004/greece/3855795.stm

I'm on the player's side here. Withouth them, the Greek FA would not be getting all this money so why should they not get a fairer cut of something that is a direct result of their own actions? The Greek FA are not acknowledging their own team's fabulous achievement by denying them extra money. The players create the money but the FA dont want to share the money. Would all the money really go back into Greek football if the FA kept all of it? :))

It's the same with people who complain about footballers weekly wages in England. It doesn't make any sense to me.

The players and their agents shouldve thought of that before the Tournament started,you cant agree something then change the fucking goal posts half way through,the whole structure of modern high level proffessional Football is built on greed,it shouldnt surprise anyone.

The Greek FA agreed on the payments because they didn't think their team would do so well. The team have done better than anyone could have hoped, brought great hounour for their nation but stll the FA don't want to reward them. The players shouldn't even have to ask, the FA should be upping their cash anyway.

Of course it wouldve been nice for the Greek FA to have offered them an unexpected bonus for doing so well,perhaps they might still,but to demand it and fall out over it is a different matter,if the Greeks had lost each match by a hatfull and brought 'dishonour' to the Nation would the players have handed any money back?The Greek team are Proffessionals,and a few of them have played for relatively significant teams,they and whoever represented them at the time should have thought longer and harder about the consequences or being unexpectedly successful.

Ah...Mr Beckham, Mr Owen...if only you were as greedy with the ball when surrounded by defenders...

The FA shouldn't have such a problem with increasing the money for the people that are the cause of their increased wealth. The Greek team shouldn't be making any threats over this but are quite right to let their FA know how they feel about it.

If the Greeks had lost every match by a hatfull, their FA wouldn't be coming into this extra cash for the semis, so the situation would never have come up. I just think it's wrong that the people who actually generate the money are seen as in the wrong for asking for a fairer share of the money.

According to the report the players want more for reaching the Semi-final than they originally agreed,its not a case of them getting further than the anticipated at all,the figures were all agreed by the players before the tournament,now they are trying to change that agreement,out of order.

you cant agree something then change the fucking goal posts half way through.............


Maybe Beckham should have done that, and changed them to rugby posts!


Ooooooooh hang on, something`s just landed in my garden........................




Aaaaaaaaaaah, its the ball from Beckhams penalty

The FA shouldn't have such a problem with increasing the money for the people that are the cause of their increased wealth. The Greek team shouldn't be making any threats over this but are quite right to let their FA know how they feel about it.

If the Greeks had lost every match by a hatfull, their FA wouldn't be coming into this extra cash for the semis, so the situation would never have come up. I just think it's wrong that the people who actually generate the money are seen as in the wrong for asking for a fairer share of the money.

It's not a question of how well they have done or how well they should be rewarded. Its about morals and ethics... Put it this way your boss asks you to sell 1000 things, and if you sell the 1000 you will get 10% of the sales. But you end up selling 2000% does that mean you are in your right to demand and make threats to your boss that you want even more money ?

Of course you won't they agreed in principle of their bonus,no matter on what they have achieved, they agreed if they got to the semi finals they would get 100,000 euros each, they knew and agreed on what they thought was acceptable...and now they are demanding 300,000 euros each...thats wrong. That is just plain greed.

They would have been richly rewarded come the end of the tournament, from their clubs or new clubs if they moved with improved contracts, the players would be held in such high regard and worshipped in greece and would be financially and in general life better off when they ended the tournament, and now with their lack of morals and demanding this increase they have put a dark spot on what they have achieved so far this tournament.

so Eertamai its not about if they deserve the money or not so stop spouting that shit, Its about turning their back on a agreement they signed before the tournament, just because its possible for them to get more money now...

.....does that mean you are in your right to demand and make threats to your boss that you want even more money ?

I never said it would be right for them to make demands or threaten their own FA. I think they are entitled to seek a larger cut of money they have generated themselves.



.....they agreed in principle of their bonus,no matter on what they have achieved, they agreed if they got to the semi finals they would get 100,000 euros each, they knew and agreed on what they thought was acceptable...and now they are demanding 300,000 euros each...thats wrong. That is just plain greed.

I don't see why that is greedy. That report says nothing of the Greek players making demands or issuing ulitmatums, but says that there is a quarrell over payments with them asking for more than they were promised. The captain had gone to the FA to see about the possibility of getting more money but this is described as a quarrel. It says nothing about threats or the such.



so Eertamai its not about if they deserve the money or not so stop spouting that shit, Its about turning their back on a agreement they signed before the tournament, just because its possible for them to get more money now...

They haven't turned their back on anything. They will still play the match against the Czech Republic, they are still seen as heroes back in Greece and they should still be proud of what they have acheived. They were not in a position to negotiate over bonuses before the tournament as no one would realistically have thought they could get this far, but now they have achieved it they are asking for what they feel is fair. Why can't they ask for more, when what they will recieve is a pittance compared to the money they have generated? That report says nothing about giving them more money or else.

The Greek FA will be laughing at the money they recieve, with the fact that the people who made it for them recive a much smaller amount. Yes the players have the honour of playing for their countries and pride in what they have achieved, but they are also entitled to a fair share.

It's got nothing to do with spouting shit. You opened a thread and I gave my opinion, but you dismiss it because it differs from yours. :\

They reached an agreement BEFORE the tournament started as to how much they would receive if they reached the semis,Football is now in an age of ultra proffessionalsm,a contract is a contract,a footballer can no more ask for more after signing a contract than a club or country can ask to give less if expectations werent met.If the Greek players accept their lot with grace this time,they will be in a much stronger position to bargain when the World Cup qualifiers and Finals come around next time,considering how well theyve done in this Championship.

. I think they are entitled to seek a larger cut of money they have generated themselves.

I don't see why that is greedy. That report says nothing of the Greek players making demands or issuing ulitmatums, but says that there is a quarrell over payments with them asking for more than they were promised.


They were not in a position to negotiate over bonuses before the tournament as no one would realistically have thought they could get this far, but now they have achieved it they are asking for what they feel is fair. Why can't they ask for more, when what they will recieve is a pittance compared to the money they have generated? That report says nothing about giving them more money or else.

The Greek FA will be laughing at the money they recieve, with the fact that the people who made it for them recive a much smaller amount. Yes the players have the honour of playing for their countries and pride in what they have achieved, but they are also entitled to a fair share.

It's got nothing to do with spouting shit. You opened a thread and I gave my opinion, but you dismiss it because it differs from yours. :\


I dont want to insult your intellienge Eertamai but you do know that 21 players are called up the national squad for 2004, so do the maths they would take 6.3 euros in total, then theres the expenses and manager and coaches fees and bonus's in that as well...so in other words the Greek FA get virtually a crumb of the money they got from the tournament.

If you read other articles and watch sky sports news, You will see that they have 'demanded' that they get a higher amount of the money, and of course players who want more money are more likely just not to play too well...so they are in a position to tell the FA give us more money or else we wont play as we should... simple as that.

You are still missing the point as well, its not about what they deserve and you say they werent in a position to sort out bonus for this far...erm they went in before the match and everyone agreed on the amount they should get for reaching this stage...so thats all the 21 players, the manager and his coaches and the FA ALL agreed on what they would be given. So that is the issue here not if they deserve it or not...

There are 23 players in each squad. :D

The Greek FA get £7.3m in prize money, so this doesn't include all the sponsorship and endorsements, spin off money from appearances and a higher status in football. I'm sure the Greek FA are going to be raking in a hell of a lot more than £7.3m for this semi-final appearance. If each player got the £214,285 that they are now asking for, that would be less than £5m, so the FA would still have a significant amount of the prize money left over to go with the rest of the money they have made out of their players.

I don't believe what you say about "...players who want more money are more likely just not to play too well...so they are in a position to tell the FA give us more money or else we wont play as we should..." You would assume their pride would ensure they perform to the best of their abiltiy. What would be detrimental to team spirit and therefore their performance would be the feeling of being used or fleeced. Would the players have known the full benefits of a semi-final appearance? Im sure the flow of information from FA, through management to playing staff does not enlighten them 100% on the exact scenario.

I do take your point that you don't like the fact that they are asking for more than what was originally stated. They made an agreement but they are now looking to re negotiate. I havn't seen Sky Sports News today, but their website makes no mention of ultimatums or demands.

You would assume their pride would ensure they perform to the best of their abiltiy. What would be detrimental to team spirit and therefore their performance would be the feeling of being used or fleeced

It's all about money money money with the Greek team, I bet they put the worst performance out of all the teams in the semi finals.
How can they feel fleeced ? They agreed to the amount they would be given before the tournament even started for gods sake..Everyone all agreed on what is acceptable and on what each players wants cant you accept that for gods sake! They agreed on what was acceptable... So why are they moaning for more ? Its all about greed

Lets look at it from the Greek players point of view. What they have achieved is amazing and no one realistic would have predicted it. This sort of opportunity will probably never present itself again. They are looking after their own interests. I am guessing that after they reached the semis they were made aware of the amount of money flying the FA's way and thought, hold on a minute here this can't be right.

I just can't see past the fact that the people who generate the money, won't get a significant cut. It's not any old Greek players that got this far, it's these Greek players. Without them the Greek FA would not be raking in all this cash.

The amount of money they agreed on may have seemed reasonable in theory, but when the situation arose and millions upon millions were mentioned, the reality of it was that they felt they had been short changed. I think it is therefore okay to enquire about re-negotiating the deal. The only greed here is from the Greek FA trying to cash millions, and not fairly rewarding those who have generated it.

So are you telling me, all the 23 players agents/advisors, and the management staff didn't know how much they would get for reaching the semi finals...Everyone knows how much each team gets for reaching each stage of the competition as it is laid down before them by the FA before the tournament began so the players and the fa all knew how much greece would get if they get this far and sorted out the deal,so why is it not that the other 3 teams who are in the semi finals not having the same situation as the greeks ?

The bottom line is, The Greek FA, the players and their advisors knew how much would be awarded to the Greek FA if they reached certain stages and agreed on what the value of the bonus should be. No matter if they didn't believe they would reach this stage or not or how well they deserve to be paid... The bottom line is they are now wanting more money. Which is greed....