AFL Collingwood President Criticizes Players' Association's Proposed Spending Cap

Australian Football League side Collingwood President Eddie McGuire has "lashed the AFL Players Association for proposing a single cap on football spending, saying that the parlous state of club finances and ridding clubs of debt should be the priority, rather than giving players a greater share," according to Jake Niall of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. McGuire said that the clubs, which were "not in great shape," needed to be "thriving" and that the players' demands for a "greater share of the pie -- via a single cap on football spending, with no cap on players" -- would "put a bullet through" their future employment prospects. McGuire added that it was time to "look after the clubs, which were the AFL's shareholders, not mere stakeholders." McGuire: "Let's sort out the economy of football, so that everybody continues to have a job and that we have a great competition" (SMH, 2/20).