Apparently Ronaldo is being treated like ‘a modern day slave’ according to FIFA President Sepp Blatter. Manchester United’s refusal to allow Ronaldo to leave for Real Madrid is tantamount to slavery.

And he believes Manchester United and Real Madrid should” sit together” if Ronaldo wants a move to the Spanish club.

“If the player wants to play somewhere else, then a solution should be found,” commented Blatter.

“Because if he stays in a club where he does not feel comfortable to play then it’s no good for the player and for the club.

“I’m always in favour to protect the player and if the player wants to leave, let him leave.”

Whilst Blatter has a point in that it is pointless trying to keep a player tied to a club if he wants to leave, comparing such players to ‘modern day slaves’ is an insult to those people who really are ‘modern day slaves’. Ronaldo ,football genius he is, earns more in a week than children in Asia will earn in a lifetime, he lives in mansions, wears the best clothes, drives the best cars, holidays in the best hotels. Real ‘modern day slaves’ do not have enough to eat, live in houses without sanitation or water or electricity – in my view Blatter pampered and spoiled bureaucrat that he is should think about what he is saying and try to be a little more thoughtful in his responses.

And anyway what about loyalty- should Ronaldo not have some measure of loyalty to the club that has helped bring him universal acclaim? Is there no loyalty in football any more or merely a wish for more and more money and prizes? So will Ronaldo stop playing if he is forced to stay at Manchester United or will he display a new maturity and still play at his peak?

On the subject of slaves are not 90% of the population who work in normal jobs, who are not fortunate enough to possess genius or the adulation of millions slaves also?

What do you think?