In July 2000 Luis Figo shocked the world with what was at the time a record transfer of 60 million euros (a transfer is when a player changes teams), the equivalent of nearly $82 million. Back then, being one of the greatest in football history, the record transfer fee was understandable. Just this summer, Gareth Bale moved to the same team Figo had just 13 years earlier, Real Madrid, for a record fee of 100 million euros, more than $135 million. Tottenham lost their star player and Real overpaid by tens of millions: this is what football culture has become. While some argue that big clubs need the revenue they get from big spending, UEFA, the federation responsible for European football, must limit free spending by clubs because small clubs do not have the ability to retain their key players , which leads to a lack of revenue that smaller clubs need most, and the money spent and received has a direct effect on their success. What teams spend and receive is an important factor in their success. This creates the idea that all clubs should spend too much to improve, and unfortunately this idea has spread. Last season AS Monaco played in Ligue 2, but after being promoted to the top flight of French football they spent exactly 150 million euros ($206.5 million) on just 4 players. This season so far they are in 2nd place with only 3 defeats (Transfermarkt). When examples like Monaco arise, other teams push to spend too much. When small clubs cannot pay large sums, they are left without the ability to retain or acquire new, better, acquisitions. Another great example of this is Manchester United. After spending 32.4 million euros this offseason, they are in 9th place. Last season they won the Premier League title after spending €76.5 million, more than half their league card. Rich teams take too many players they don't even need. It's the equivalent of large corporations taking over the local “mom and pop” store. The culture of football is being disrupted and slowly ruined by the excessive spending of the top clubs. Fans need to take back the power and distribute it evenly across all sides, and by doing so we can bring back the culture of football and bring the game back to what it once was. Works CitedCoerts, Stefan. “Because Belgium is a World Cup dark horse but hasn't reached the Champions League round of 16 since 2001.” Goal.com. Objective, 10 December 2013. Web. 10 December 2013. Kuper, Simon and Stefan Szymanski. Soccernomics. New York: Nation, 2009. Print.Transfermarkt.com. Transfermarkt and Web. 1 December 2013.Voakes, Kris. “Financial fair play is enriching the rich and keeping the poor in business.” Goal.com. Objective, 15 August 2013. Web. 5 December. 2013.