I thought it was a curious decision in the first place to have the tournament in Angola. It isn't necessarily the most stable of places. I am even more surprised that the various club teams agreed to have their players released without a thorough review of the security arrangements. I am going to be interested to see how those concerns are reconciled for South Africa. The nation is notorious for having a huge crime problem so it will be interesting to see what security protocols are in place.

Wallace Reply The clubs are, as I understand it, fairly helpless in this situation. FIFA's regulations are set up as such that national federations can demand the release of players and if it doesn't happen then FIFA can ban the player from all competition and instruct the leagues to impose sanctions.

It's an unusual arrangement where the employers of an individual can be ordered to let their employee work elsewhere without any say so or compensation. Imagine trying to make that work in any other industry. At some point the major clubs will rebel and there will be a massive clash with FIFA that will reshape the power base of football worldwide.