Tim Glover: In a desperate world the cap might just fit

The reaction of Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, to the proposal of a salary cap for Europe's leading clubs, was predictably blinkered. "I'll believe it when I see it," he said. "It does not have the authority of Uefa and Fifa and would be little more than a gentlemen's agreement and there are too few gentlemen around."

After the World Cup party is over the TV companies are expected to play hardball in negotiating new contracts so the idea of introducing realistic salaries is not only sensible but belated. The health of the game, already threatened by the ITV Digital débâcle, would be significantly improved by a sustainable incomes policy.

It would not affect the Hello! lifestyle of, for example, David Beckham who can spend more on a party than Rochdale make in a year. While Beckham has negotiated a £5m-a-year contract at Manchester United – who else could afford him? – John Hollins was explaining life on the other side of the tracks. "I was watching Alan Hansen on television last week going on about a cash crisis in the game and I thought to myself, 'Christ, you don't know the half of it'," Hollins said.

A few days ago Hollins, who took Rochdale into the Third Division play-offs, received a fax informing him that his services were no longer required. With a salary of around £60,000 (for some in the Premiership this would be a weekly remuneration but we are talking per annum) Hollins was even prepared to contemplate a wage cut. The League Managers' Association, which is not in the same league as Taylor's PFA, said they would look into the matter, but Hollins is not expecting a result. He claims he is owed £250,000 by Swansea who dismissed him last season.

Of course, a gentlemen's agreement can be broken but the agreement in Glasgow last week by the G-14 group of Europe's most influential clubs to control costs deserves consideration. Real Madrid had debts estimated at £173m and had to sell their training ground; Milan, Barcelona and Internazionale have all ignored Mr Micawber's advice about income and expenditure. The G-14 (which is not to be read as minus 14) want a lower basic wage and an agreement not to bid among themselves for the transfer of players. That could be construed as price fixing, but desperate times require desperate measures. "The aim is to reduce competition between clubs in the transfer market," Thomas Kurth, G-14's general manager, said. There would be arbitration in disputes and the accountants Deloitte Touche would audit balance sheets.

Kurth said that only clubs in debt would be governed by the new regulations, which means almost everybody bar Manchester United. "Those who are in the black do not need us to regulate them," he added. "A percentage of money available should be spent on players' costs. It is important to avoid the auction of a player because it has the effect of raising the prices of even mediocre players. All 14 clubs are determined to assume their responsibilities through self-regulation. I am very optimistic the system can work."

Taylor was very pessimistic. "It will be impossible to implement over so many countries," he said, "and the very clubs that put forward this sort of agreement are usually the first to break it."

The fate of Bradford City, who have been forced into administration, should serve as a warning to everybody in the game, including the elite. Bradford, in the Premiership a year ago, finished 15th in the First Division and trading in the club's shares was suspended last week. The Yorkshire club is £13m in debt and unless a buyer is found the future looks grim. As it is many players will have their contracts terminated. The reasons for the crisis are loss of income from ITV Digital and loss of income to the striker Benito Carbone, whose earnings are said to be in the region of £40,000 per week. Bradford have been trying unsuccessfully to sell Carbone, who has been on loan to Middlesbrough. The game for gentlemen has been played for a sucker.

Salary caps are worn quite comfortably in other sports but part of the problem in football is that it has been a players' market. The same applies to professional golf. However, the signs in football are that the market is levelling out, Nicolas Anelka's offer to move from Paris Saint Germain to Liverpool for less than a king's ransom being an example.

Any father worried about his endowment policy should buy his son, or daughter, not an overpriced replica jersey or an inflated football but a set of golf clubs. In the Royal and Ancient game there are no indications yet of a slowdown in the economy. Quite the reverse. Every year prize money leaps ahead of inflation and even the R & A feel obliged significantly to increase the purse for The Open Championship, arguing they have to keep up with other tournaments.

And so the cycle continues, even though the cheque for winning an Open, as substantial as it is, is the key to a much larger treasure chest in terms of endorsements and the dreaded appearance money. A successful career on tour is becoming increasingly reminiscent of a regal existence. Leading players are not required to put their hands in their pockets and do not, as a result, carry cash. Travel, accommodation and food is generally provided and a crèche is available.

To attract the star names sponsors are finding that even wheelbarrows full of money are no guarantee of assembling a top field. In this week's Deutsche Bank-SAP Open Tiger Woods has the use of a Maserati. In the Wales Open at Celtic Manor in August, Sir Terry Matthews, the owner of the resort, has not only increased the prize money but is laying on his private jet to fly competitors to the following week's US PGA Championship, from Wales to Minnesota. Still, they will probably have to find their own way back.

Soap at the Opera House

Rugby clubs in the Zurich Premiership in England are content to labour under a squad cap of £1.8m. It is prudent at this stage not to run amok before they can walk, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding the game's showpiece event, the World Cup. Tomorrow the tournament will be officially launched at the Opera House in Sydney Harbour, but once again there are signs that not everybody is singing from the same team sheet.

One of the factors that led to New Zealand losing the right to co-host the event with Australia was a failure to reach agreement on the provision of "clean" stadiums in which existing agreements on advertising and hospitality boxes would be superseded by the demands of Rugby World Cup Ltd and the International Rugby Board. Having been handed the whole shooting match on assurances that they could deliver, it is now understood the Australian Rugby Union have lost the hospitality contract.

According to sources in New Zealand, the IRB are worried that the Australians will make a profit of up to A$50m. There were also concerns over whether the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Colonial Stadium in the same city would be classified as 100 per cent clean.

Elsewhere the decision to disenfranchise New Zealand continues to have repercussions. A host broadcaster has yet to sign and TV New Zealand are taking legal advice over the fundamental change to the structure of the event. There should be eight major sponsors but only three, Heineken, Visa and Coca-Cola, are in place and their lawyers are thought to be looking for a reduction in the £2m originally agreed. There also appears to be a hitch in British Airways becoming the tournament's official carrier. At this rate RWC is in danger of becoming the phantom of the Opera House.

Try, try, try and tries again

Last week Aberavon, needing 14 tries against Dunvant to pip Pontypool to the Welsh First Division championship, got them. Today they play Caerphilly, bottom of the Premier league, in the first of a two- leg play-off. Scoring 14 tries to order suggests Aberavon would have no trouble meeting criteria, but the name of Dunvant will forever be a dirty word in Pontyland.