West Ham should push for rule change ‘after Aston Villa reveal’ – Keith Wyness
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has claimed West Ham and other European clubs should push for more compensation from Fifa for players injured on international duty.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted the world governing body should be “held to account” for expanding the football calendar with their new Club World Cup.
Niclas Fullkrug picked up an Achilles tendon injury on international duty with Germany in September – just weeks after signing for West Ham.
The 32-year-old is yet to start a league game since his £27.5million move from Borussia Dortmund and has missed the last six games across all competitions.
As a result of the injury, Fifa will compensate West Ham just over £17,000 for every day he remains out of action.
West Ham should put more pressure on Fifa after Fullkrug injury, says Wyness
However, Wyness revealed the remuneration will cap out at around £6.3million if Fullkrug remains out for a year.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “I’ve come across this at Villa.
“We had players injured on international duty.
“This insurance policy is not that extensive. For example, it doesn’t kick in until 28 days after the injury.
“The club is still responsible for the immediate rehab of the player.
“After that, it’s about 20,000 euro per day that the club can put against the wages.
“There’s a cap of €7.5million – but it’s rare for a player to be injured that long.
“If you’ve got players on £100,000-a-week or £200,000-a-week, it’s not that much money.
“FIFPro has got to look at this, and the ECA should also be holding Fifa to account because they are the ones increasing the football calendar.
“We’ve all heard the discussions about players being overstressed. There has to be another look at this payment and how it is paid out, in my opinion.”
In other news, O’Rourke shares West Ham ‘big-name signing’ update.
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