Valuation of players reduced

TOTTENHAM have reduced the valuation of their players by a third in the wake of the Bosman ruling. On the day that the Premiership club asked their shareholders to cough up almost £11 million to help pay for a new stand, they announced in their balance sheet that they had cut £6.8million from the players' previous £20.3million price tag.

This follows the case brought by Belgian player Jean Marc Bosman last year, when the European Court of Justice ruled that a player could move to a new club within the European Union at the end of his contract without his current club being able to demand a transfer fee.

"In the board's view, the Bosnian ruling impacts upon the existing carry value of the players," the club said. "This adjustment reflects the board assessment of the permanent diminution in value that the ruling potentially causes.