City won't kill football, but Bunyodkor might

Sunday, 15 March 09, 02:43 PM · Comments (0)

There's a story in the Guardian today by Kevin O'Flynn detailing the rise of Uzbek League champions Bunyodkor.

Bunyodkor exploded onto the world football scene last summer following an audacious bid for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o. The contract offered to Eto'o was worth a reported $25,000,000 over three months, or roughly $8,300,000 per month. You can't blame Eto'o for entertaining the offer, you couldn't blame anyone for entertaining the offer. But in a country where the average yearly wage is $2,389 the offer was nothing short of pornographic. After Eto'o, who is no stranger to crazy offers, turned down the deal Bunyodkor successfully moved for Rivaldo, who signed a two-year, $10,800,000 contract.

We know that Manchester City's money comes from oil, no secret is made of that, but as the Guardian article explores, finding the source of Bunyodkor's money isn't quite as easy.

Aside from insane spending, there was a report that players from city (and title) rivals Pakhtakor found themselves threatened with a gun after equalizing against Bunyodkor.

While people will bemoan City's status as a billionaire's plaything, despite City currently sitting in 10th, it's worth noting that in Central Asia there is a club being used by billionaires for sinister reasons

More disturbing is the fact that Barcelona have a relationship with Bunyodkor. For Barca, a club which proudly carries the UNICEF logo on it's shirt in lieu of a sponsor this is nothing short of shameful.

Tom Dunmore has also put together a nice piece on this subject today.

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