David Barnes soccer His name is Massimo Lombardo, he is the son of an Italian lorry driver and he could become as famous as Jean-Marc Bosman. Lombardo, a 27-year-old midfielder, played in the relative obscurity of the Swiss league at the weekend for Lausanne against Sion. He is proud of his 12 Swiss caps and his two seasons in the Champions League with Zurich Grasshoppers. But he knows the best chance he has of lasting celebrity lies in the documents the European Commission are preparing to declare the transfer system illegal. Lombardo never thought it would come to this when Italian club Perugia wanted to sign him from Grasshoppers. He said: “Problems arose over my dual nationality. I have Swiss and Italian passports. Even though I was at the end of my contract with Grasshoppers, they demanded a fee because Switzerland is not part of the European Union. Perugia said they had no right to one because I was Italian and took the case to the European Commission in December 1998. The commission ruled in favour of Perugia on the principle of free competition and their study of the affair moved them to wanting to abolish transfer fees altogether. “It could be that my name becomes like Bosman one day, but I do not want to be known for the break-up of professional football. I came up in a little club and something must be done to protect them. There is a lot of money in football from TV and, at the moment, they get their share only by selling on players they have developed.
“On the other hand, something has to be done about the monstrous fees being paid. It is ridiculous that Luis Figo should cost so much more than Maradona in just a few years. Fifa is right to ask for time to come up with the right answers. It is too important an issue to rush into things.” Fifa and the European Commission were at loggerheads over the case of Lombardo, who had left Perugia by the time they came up with their own ruling. Lombardo explained: “They said Perugia must pay Grasshoppers two million Swiss francs for me. This decision went right against the EC ruling and helped set up the crisis that football is facing now. “I learned that the game was all about business through this affair. I helped Perugia win promotion to Serie A, but they threw me out when they learned they might have to pay something for me. “I am starting to get calls from different countries about this. It is normal that people should link my name to Bosman. But there is one big difference. He was prevented from playing. I can still enjoy the game.”