G-14 to query legality of player release

Europe's top clubs are looking into the legality of FIFA rules on the release of their players to national teams for internationals.

The G-14 grouping of the continent's most powerful clubs, who met in Valencia on Tuesday, also reiterated their total opposition to a re-launch of FIFA's Club World Championship.

"The group has authorised its general manager to try to ascertain if the current provisions of the FIFA regulations by which clubs are obliged to release players for no payment and at conditions unilaterally imposed by FIFA are an infringement of law with regard to fair-trading," read a statement on the group's website on Tuesday.

The group, which includes AC Milan, Manchester United and Real Madrid, has said before that it wants compensation for the release of players for international tournaments and is anxious to reach an agreement before Euro 2004 starts in June.

They have also rejected the proposal from world soccer's governing body to re-launch the Club World championship, saying that the idea ran against their policy of trying to ease the workload on players.

The group's stance keeps them on a collision course with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has consistently opposed compensation to clubs and is a fervent advocate of a revamped Club World Championship.

Last month FIFA announced a six-club tournament would start in December 2005 and be held annually.

The tournament will be between the champions of each of the six FIFA confederations with each team playing a minimum of two matches.

The tournament started in 2000 in Brazil and sparked controversy when Manchester United withdrew from the English FA Cup to travel to South America.

A proposed second competition in Spain in 2003 was cancelled because of financial problems.