[i]I'm pretty sure they have
They insure their players because they are business assets.
Their insurance will cover their players for driving to work
By the sound of it, their insurance doesn't cover the players for cycling to work. [/i]
SOMEONE, hasn't even thought about it. Either them or their insurance company.
When I got life insurance, and I accept that I'm nowhere near as valuable as a football player, I was refused at more than once place because at the time I raced (push) bikes. I can count the number of people I've heard about dying in bike races on one hand but they deemed it to be dangerous. Bonkers.
or just having a bath
A goalkeeper - spannish Zubbaletta [ spell??] missed the World cup as he trapped his big toe in the tap whilst having a bath.
Be careful out there kids
Not in every footballer's contract
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/santa-cruz-is-on-his-bike-901165
Mind you the club were probably hoping he would get knocked down so they could cash in on his insurance.
They insure their players because they are business assets.
That argument could be extended to pretty much anyone in [i]any[/i] job though.
"Sorry, you can't go cycling, skiing, scuba diving, climbing, running, hillwalking, gardening, etc etc. You are a company asset. When you are not here we expect you to remain safely at home eating company-approved produce with a safety spork." 😐
I read this place ....very few of us an asset to our work [ or our sport or humanity] 😉
SOMEONE, hasn't even thought about it. Either them or their insurance company.
So it's not them anymore then 😉
Insurance works on real historical actuarial tables.
If in the past they have paid out on claims caused by cycling, then they either increase the prices accordingly, or they exclude it from the policy.
Even though it may seem like it, insurance companies don't just "guess stuff"
They have [b]really[/b] boring people who work stuff out based on actual data.
That argument could be extended to pretty much anyone in any job though.
When was the last time your company paid a few million up front just to get someone to agree to come and work there ?
Insurance works on real historical actuarial tables.If in the past they have paid out on claims caused by cycling, then they either increase the prices accordingly, or they exclude it from the policy.
Yep, and past historical data will tell you that if you ban your employees from [i]EVERYTHING[/i] then it will minimise the chance of injury and an insurance payout.
That doesn't make it a sound choice. 😀
That's different.
Insurance companies work out insurance premiums based on historical data.
Football clubs work out what they will allow their players to do based on the costs of the insurance and what they can include at a price they are happy with.
It's not that complicated really, and pretty sensible too.
It's no different to how you might decide on insuring your bike.
If you lock it in the garage every night, your insurance will be cheaper than if you chain it to the front gate.
Even though chaining it to the front gate might be more convenient, and save you having to move the lawnmower.
Surely they've done it to free up for coke and hookers? 😉
It's no different to how you might decide on insuring your bike.If you lock it in the garage every night, your insurance will be cheaper than if you chain it to the front gate.
Exactly. Keep your employees locked in their houses every night and the insurance will be cheaper.
But that doesn't make those employees fitter, happier, healthier, more productive, comfortable or get on better with associate employee contemporaries. 😉
A goalkeeper - spannish Zubbaletta [ spell??] missed the World cup as he trapped his big toe in the tap whilst having a bath.
Sounds like a mis-remembered story - Cañizares missed a world cup (in 2002) when he dropped a bottle of after-shave on his foot, severing a tendon.
Specificity in training is a reasonable argument against cycling perhaps.
I don't think this is at all uncommon for pro footballers, and reasonable considering the investment from the club and wages paid - he can ride a bike when he retires. Pretty sure clauses like this are why so many play golf and like horse racing.
Exactly. Keep your employees locked in their houses every night and the insurance will be cheaper.But that doesn't make those employees fitter, happier, healthier, more productive, comfortable or get on better with associate employee contemporaries.
So you think a professional footballer would be struggling to keep up fitness wise without his cycle commute to the training ground ?
I presume you are still talking about the professional footballer and haven't digressed onto other types of Employee who aren't insured by their employers and as a result are allowed to cycle wherever they want.
I think David James (keeper for ??? and england) "injured" himself playing on his x-box didn't he ?A goalkeeper - spannish Zubbaletta [ spell??] missed the World cup as he trapped his big toe in the tap whilst having a bath.Sounds like a mis-remembered story - Cañizares missed a world cup (in 2002) when he dropped a bottle of after-shave on his foot, severing a tendon
So you think a professional footballer would be struggling to keep up fitness wise without his cycle commute to the training ground ?
Well as others said if he is using it to "top up" training then yes it sounds like his fitness might suffer without it.
More importantly perhaps I think him being restricted from doing something he enjoys outside of work hours might impact his happiness. Which isn't good for his performance or loyalty to the club.
I presume you are still talking about the professional footballer and haven't digressed
Yes I did digress.
Did you? Or are you saying insurance actuaries have historical data showing high levels of performance-restricting injury amongst UK professional footballers that cycle? That seems like a pretty small group to derive a statistically significant prediction from.
Did you? Or are you saying insurance actuaries have historical data showing high levels of performance-restricting injury amongst UK professional footballers that cycle? That seems like a pretty small group to derive a statistically significant prediction from.
People living in my street driving a 2001 LHD Projekt Zwo VW Multivan imported from Germany are a pretty small sample group too.
Yet somehow they managed to come up with a premium for my insurance.
Must have just guessed it eh 😉
Funny because loads of other similar companies seemed to "guess" a premium that was within a few quid of what I paid.
Yes but the thing is one stolen/crashed van is much the same as another, so a sample of the superset provides a reasonable enough estimate. Not sure the same can be said for the relative risk of cycling injury to professional footballers versus say middle-aged obese IT Consultants 😀
[i]If in the past they have paid out on claims caused by cycling, then they either increase the prices accordingly, or they exclude it from the policy.
Even though it may seem like it, insurance companies don't just "guess stuff" [/i]
Yeah, after I thought about it on the way home I figured they probably don't have enough actuary data to know whether cycling is dangerous or not but they hear about people being killed every day in that there London so it must be dangerous. Anything that sounds dangerous but they don't actually know about gets written in to the policy as not allowed.
Which is a bit like guessing. 😉
The irony being, footballers aside, that it's actually more dangerous sitting on your couch watching TV than it is cycling about the place.
[i]Funny because loads of other similar companies seemed to "guess" a premium that was within a few quid of what I paid. [/i]
Ah well, that's the insurance companies colluding on the price. 😉
I went riding with a friend in Nelson last year and another guy was there, who it turns out was mark webber. He did say that it was a bit naughty and that he wasn't contractually allowed to MTB within certain periods of the year. Fit as a butchers dog through and reasonably handy on a bike. Nice fella as well.
A goalkeeper - spannish Zubbaletta [ spell??] missed the World cup as he trapped his big toe in the tap whilst having a bath.
Sounds like a mis-remembered story - Cañizares missed a world cup (in 2002) when he dropped a bottle of after-shave on his foot, severing a tendonI think David James (keeper for ??? and england) "injured" himself playing on his x-box didn't he ?
Must be a goalkeeper thing! Dave Beasant did his foot dropping a bottle of salad cream on it.
Darius Vassell ended up out of a few games with an infected big toe. He decided he'd put a pin through his toenail to relieve the pressure of a black toenail. Pushed the pin in too far and it went in to his toe (ouch!).
I went riding with a friend in Nelson last year and another guy was there, who it turns out was mark webber. He did say that it was a bit naughty and that he [b]wasn't contractually allowed to MTB within certain periods of the year[/b]. Fit as a butchers dog through and reasonably handy on a bike. Nice fella as well.
Hardly surprising seeing as he had a massive mountain biking injury* just before the start of the F1 season a couple of years ago
*Well, it wasn't really a mountain biking injury - he was knocked off his bike by a car IIRC...
Not sure the same can be said for the relative risk of cycling injury to professional footballers versus say middle-aged obese IT Consultants
No employer is insuring middle aged obese IT consultants though.
So the comparison isn't needed.
So the comparison isn't needed.
And yet they are making it? Unless, contrary to what you said earlier, they really are basing their actuary data purely on performance-limiting injuries suffered by professional footballers whilst cycling.
Anyway my [i]main[/i] point is being lost which is that restricting (any) employee's normal out-of-work activities may "protect your asset" and allow cheaper insurance, but it may have hidden costs in terms of happiness, loyalty and performance which are harder for bean counters to measure.
Cycle most of the way - walk the last bit. Technically not cycling to work.
TBH I can see why he has been banned.
Its not hysteria. If you fall off your bike (pothole, slide off, etc etc) and break your wrist you can happily tap away on your pc at work with one hand.
Its his job 100% to be 100% functional. I don't see the issue.
Its his job 100% to be 100% functional. I don't see the issue
It's no issue provided of course that they also ban other activities that can also lead to injury such as driving, walking and having a bath.
I don't see the issue.
You're really not trying hard enough.
See earlier posts in the first two pages for details of how to be appalled by perfectly sensible decisions that you don't know the details of 😉
driving, walking and having a bath.
Great anecdote. Don't forget he must also eat mushed up food.
Great anecdote.
Over 200,000 people are injured on the roads every year. ([url= https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/245383/rrcgb2012-00.pdf ]DfT 2012[/url])
There are roughly 95,000 injuries in bathrooms a year. ([url= http://www.hassandlass.org.uk/reports/2002data.pdf ]HASS 2002[/url])
They wouldn't dream of banning someone from driving or taking baths.
The fact that they feel able to ban someone from cycling shows how messed up our national views are. I wonder how many Dutch players cycle?
I wonder how many Dutch players cycle?
I know this one, well sort of. I know a couple of guys who play for PSV but they aren’t Dutch. They don’t cycle to training or anywhere else because they’re not allowed. They aren’t allowed to drive to training either, the club sends a car for them.
Really? Blimey! oh well there goes my point 😆
Just shows how messed up the Dutch national view of cycling is though eh ? 😉
I know of a few footballers some who are paid stupid stupid stupid money and played in the premier league
It's often in there contracts , another similar point is they aren't allowed to ride motor cycles neither, again most of these things are in there contracts
You'd be surprised as good a life as they have / money they earn some of things they are contracted not to do!
Seems odd when you compare to F1 where many drivers cycle as part of their personal training including including mark webber who was featured in this very magazine and i many ways they are even more indispensable then a footballer as the teams are much smaller.
Probably not as prone to minor injuries making them incapable of performing though.
A certain Yorkshire and England cricket captain used to play 5 side in my mates team I'm pretty sure that wasn't allowed in his central contact
surely a turbo and/or runnning would be a better method of training ? he's not going to achieve much on a commute especially if there is traffic and lights etc surely?
Mark Webber said in a recent interview that was grateful to Red Bull to sticking by him when he was injured on his bike
It sounds like he wasn't allowed to go mountain biking. Or they had the option to drop him if he was hurt
Over 200,000 people are injured on the roads every year. (DfT 2012)
You know that link to a document that says that everything is down except cycling accidents and the number you quote includes cycling accidents
You know that link to a document that says that everything is down except cycling accidents and the number you quote includes cycling accidents
Yep, but it also shows that cars and walking also represent a significant risk to "company assets".
Surely he should be aspiring to drive to work in a ridiculously powerful sportscars like premier league stars. They never have accidents.Or a massive Range Rover battletank. Can your pal not have a rollcage, fire extinguisher, bulletproof oakleys etc put on his bike, along with a mahoosive stereo system and bling alloys?
I know few professional sportsmen, and most are banned from taking part in any other sports, excluding golf strangely. One can't even do any form of exersise unless supervised by one of theclubs trainers. Even children on a few football teams books are excluded from kickibg a ball around in the streets.
its all to do with their insurance, risk assessments, and protecting their investments.
