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Under the new law, could this
be the 2010 World Cup squad?
World Cup 2010 Squad could Span the Generations
With the World Cup line-up of 2006 now finalised, UK experts in workplace issues, Croner, says that a new law to prevent age discrimination could affect the way football teams of the future are selected, with potential legal penalties to pay should a player not make the squad for being 'too old', or 'too young'.
New Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, due this October, could shift the goalposts when it comes to the hiring and firing policies for professional footballers. Retiring players because of 'old' age, as well as recruiting only 'youthful' players could put football managers legally off-side. Taken to its extreme, the new law could mean that the retirement age of footballers will be increased, as well as evidence needed to justify recruiting young talent.
The new law has already started to impact the football industry, with Arsenal Football Club recently under the spotlight due to its policy of offering only one-year contracts to players over the age of 30, which may fall foul of the Age Regulations.
Referee Dermot Gallagher, who was due to retire this summer, will be the first to benefit from the new law as he will no longer have to retire at 48, the current Football Association's compulsory retirement age.
Richard Smith, employment services director at Croner, says that the new law will affect all UK businesses, but thinks that employers aren't aware enough of how far-reaching the legislation will be and are confused over what they need to do to comply.
Smith says: "Football is a high-profile example of how the new law could affect employers in terms of their 'hiring and firing' policies. For example, using words such as 'mature' or 'youthful' in job ads could be risky, and stipulating an age range for specific jobs will be outlawed, except for a few specialist roles where there might be a minimum or maximum age required by law.
"This doesn't necessarily mean that the 2010 World Cup line up will need to represent players across the generations, as the England team will be selected from the best players of the Clubs. Age discrimination is much more likely to be at grassroots level with the impact of the new Regulations hitting clubs both large and small.
"Football clubs will have to consider whether their age requirements can be 'objectively justified'. A decision would need well thought-out evidence to justify the reasoning behind it, such as the need for players' peak performance to maintain revenue and sponsorship deals. It may well be that Arsenal will have to review its policy of only offering one-year fixed term contracts to footballers over 30, as this may not be objectively justifiable.
"It could be feasible that we see much older players on the pitch in such circumstances, although realistically, players themselves will probably naturally choose to leave the game as they get older."
Smith advises employers considering the age demographic of their workforce to ask themselves the question: 'Are my policies objectively justifiable?'
He says: "The new Regulations cover a wide range of recruitment and retirement policies, and will place age discrimination on an equal footing to sex, race, religious, sexual orientation or disability discrimination.
"The World Cup is a timely reminder for us to advise employers to 'keepy uppy' with the new law and think about how it will affect their business. If in doubt, they should seek professional advice."
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