UEFA president Michel Platini has defended a ban on third-party ownership (TPO) of footballers -- labelling the practice "shameful"and a form of "slavery."
Super agent Jorge Mendes, who includes Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho among his clients, has claimed the ban is illegal and will kill competition in Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese leagues have also opposed the ban.
TPO is a practice which takes place in several countries, particularly in South America, where companies own the economic rights of players and benefit from their transfer fees. It has been banned in the Premier League since 2008.
#INSERT type:image caption:Super agent Jorge Mendes has claimed the ban on third-party ownership is illegal. END#
Platini, who pushed FIFA to impose the ban -- said it would stop huge sums of money disappearing from football.
Speaking on a UEFA video forum in response to a question from Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc, Platini said: "I have put a lot of pressure on FIFA to stop third-party ownership.
"Today, it's shameful to see some players with one of their arms belonging to one person, a leg belonging to a funds pension located who knows where, and a third person owning his foot.
"It is shameful; we're dealing with a type of slavery that belongs to the past.
"Everyone earns money on such transfers, and while we are trying to find money to invest in football, that money goes in the pockets of I don't know who, and I don't know where.
"It's about time that the world of football wakes up, and that the money coming into football remains in football, and doesn't disappear."
Platini also said in the forum that the biggest misconception about him was that he alone took major decisions about football.
He added: "I think that the people in Europe, or in the world, they think that I take my decisions alone. But you have to understand one thing, I am very democratic and very transparent, and I never take a decision alone without the support of the executive committee or with the Congress of UEFA.
"I listen to everybody very carefully and I take my decision, when it is necessary to take a decision, always for the good of the game and for the good of football. Don't think that I am very despotic."