"Benign" player raiding

[Joel S. Berson]

"Real Madrid's president ... was quoted as saying that he would try
to persuade [David] Beckham to stay [with Madrid} and would use an
escape clause in Beckham's Galaxy contract to withdraw from the deal.
...
"Alexei Lalas, the Galaxy's president and general manager, said ...
'On the surface of it, it's a benign comment.'"

Did Las mean kindly, gracious, meek, humble,
propitious?  Hardly.  Rather, vacuous, idle, ineffectual.

(It would be an interesting "escape" clause that let Real Madrid void
Beckham's contract with the Galaxy.  More like an imprisonment clause
for Beckham.)

NYTimes, June 11.

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