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Friday 9th January 2009 Make us your HOME PAGE  What is RSS?
 

FOOTBALL

BLATTER PLAN THROWN OUT

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BLATTER: Non-starter

Wednesday May 28,2008

By Andrew Warshaw

FABIO CAPELLO’S search for a winning England team has been dealt a severe blow by football’s two most powerful bodies agreeing to ditch plans to limit foreign players in Europe.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wanted to make his controversial ‘6 plus 5’ quota obligatory at this week’s congress in Sydney but has been forced into a climbdown because of strict laws on freedom of movement.

Instead, a compromise deal has been struck between FIFA and UEFA barring the transfer of under-18 players and committing Europe’s teenage stars to sign their first professional contract, however short, with the club that trained them – a particular priority for UEFA boss Michel Platini. Abandoning overseas quotas in Europe will be a huge disappointment to Capello, who is hoping to halt the decline in England’s pool of home-grown talent. Last season the number of England-qualified players starting in the Premier League dropped to an all-time low of 34.1 per cent.

“The number is important because that’s what I can choose from,” said Capello, whose team face the United States in a friendly tonight.

Yesterday, Blatter highlighted Manchester United’s line-up in last week’s Champions League final against Chelsea as proof that quotas can work.

“We’ve just seen Manchester United’s starting XI in Moscow with six players eligible for the English team on the pitch,” he said. “And they won – not bad.”

Under his proposal, clubs would have to field a minimum of four domestic players in 2010, going up to six by 2012. “We’ve had confirmation by all the confederations, including Europe, that everybody favours the objectives of the six-plus-five,” said Blatter. “We should do it not with confrontation but in discussions to try to find a solution.”

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Although the quota is designed to restore national identity and create a more level playing field throughout the major leagues, European bodies, including the Football Association, have stipulated they will vote against any restrictions on overseas imports.

“We are in favour of protecting locally trained players but 6 plus 5, or any form of quotas for that matter, simply cannot be implemented in Europe because it isn’t legal,” said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard. “Our executive committee met with Sepp Blatter in Moscow last week and a compromise agreement was concluded that does not involve nationality issues.”

FA chairman Lord Triesman is understood to be sympathetic to prohibiting transfers of under-18 players but even this is likely to antagonise the game’s most astute talent spotters – such as Arsene Wenger – especially if the authorities close off the loophole which allows young players to move for family reasons.

The Arsenal boss is renowned for identifying top teenagers from abroad, notably Cesc Fabregas, and then developing them on home soil.


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