Background:
SYDNEY (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter will forge ahead with plans to curb the number of foreign players at football clubs, saying on Tuesday that his organisation should coral the world of sport into helping make it happen.
The Swiss head of world football's governing body insisted that FIFA would not be "going into confrontation" with any employment laws by pursuing the foreign quota proposal and that they should explore all means possible to implement it as a rule.
Blatter's so-called "6+5" proposal -- which would limit the number of foreign players to start any club match to five -- has sparked a battle of ideologies in global football.
Opponents say it would be an unworkable regulation which contravenes the European Union's free movement of workers rules.
Blatter, however, insists foreign quotas are necessary to ensure the sport's growth and well-being and to prevent a handful of rich clubs dominating honours.
"This is a subject close to my heart," he told reporters.
"I want to protect the national teams and prevent leagues having only a small number of clubs with any chance of winning the title."
Given the weight of legal opposition to his plans, it had been suggested Blatter would merely ask the Congress this week for a mandate to examine the issue further, representing something of a climbdown from asking it to endorse the plan.
Speaking at a FIFA executive committee meeting in Sydney on Tuesday, the Swiss insisted this was not the case, however, though what he will ask Congress for is to "explore all possible means within the limits of law" to make it happen.
"MORE THAN TALK"
"It is more than just further talks and investigation," Blatter insisted.
"The confederations have said they are in favour of the objectives of 6+5, but we should achieve this through negotiation not confrontation.
"It is now up to the congress to see if they support it.
"We say that the congress shall request the FIFA and UEFA presidents together with the world of sport, including the International Olympic Committee and international sports federations to explore -- not only to discuss -- to explore all possible means within the limits of law to implement this rule.
"I can tell you now already that on June 5, I have a meeting with the president of the European Parliament in Brussels.
"So now we go to our congress (to make) its resolution but again I say we are not going into confrontation because we are exploring all these means and possibilities in respect of laws.
"It is not only European laws, there are other laws, national laws or supranational laws."
In Brussels, a spokesman for European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering confirmed next week's meeting with Blatter, but described it as "purely exploratory".
The assembly, which would have to approve any exemptions for football from EU laws, already voted against Blatter's plan earlier this month.
Blatter is not convinced that his proposal would contravene European laws because it merely restricts the number of foreign players who start each game and does not place any restrictions on the number of foreign players who sign contracts with clubs.
COLLISION COURSE
He hopes to introduce the quota from 2010 with a minimum of four home players, going up to five in 2011 and the full six by 2012.
The issue had set Blatter on a collision course with European football's governing body UEFA as well as the European Parliament.
UEFA chief Michel Platini had made it clear he was not prepared to "burn his fingers in Brussels" with what he considers an "impossible" ruling.
Blatter's comments on Tuesday suggests he feels he may have a case to impose the ruling without contravening any laws.
Link
In summary, Blatter's proposal intends to limit the number of foreign players able to start any club match for a club to just 5 (FIVE) players.
The proposal aims to i) Protect national teams*, ii) Give smaller clubs (e.g. Everton) a greater chance of competing in national and confederate competitions (UEFA in our case).
Blatter:
The figures from the five main European championships (Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy) are not that far away from '6+5'. 43% of squads are made up of players who are not eligible. England and Germany are the only ones who are above 50%.
(Source: FIFA)
I was puzzled that he used these stat's, as the correct stat(s) in relation to the 6+5 rule would be the average number of foreign (non-eligible) players in a starting line up per game (or the average number of eligible players). Why he uses those stat's are beyond me as the size of any given squad can vary greatly, and the 6+5 rule does not intend to limit the number of foreign players within a squad (so long as it contains 6 eligible or 'home' players). Essentially, if the 6+5 rule came in the percentage of squads made up of foreign players could conceivably increase.
Anyhow, onto the debate.
The arguments in favour of the proposal are basically as follows:
Proponents of the rule argue that it would guarantee a minimum level of "local, regional or national identity" as eligible (home association) players would be guaranteed regular playing time. Clubs would be forced to invest time and money in signing and developing eligible players. In relation to the national team of each association, supporters of the proposal believe this guaranteed emphasis on developing home talent would ultimately lead to a stronger national side. In the words of Blatter himself, "We are fighting for youth training and this goes all the way up to the national teams." *Blatter does not see the proposal as a way of reducing the power and means of the richest clubs, rather a way of making the less well off "stand a chance", as at present, in the five main European championships, "four-fifths of the teams are battling to avoid relegation to a lower division". Again in his words, "It is the proof that a minority of clubs control everything - money, players and means." Ultimately, Blatter (and proponents of the proposal) believe that without intervention, "the fairness of the sport will be further endangered and identification with national teams is going to disappear". "In the end it will all be down to money, there will be no more sporting competition or local or regional sentiment".
Au contraire:
Opponents of the proposal would argue that it constitutes a restriction of trade by contravening EU law, more specifically relating to the free movement of workers and the principle of equal treatment. Article 39 of the EC treaty states that EU citizens have the "right to take up an activity in another Member State under the same conditions as apply to its own nationals". Further to that it states that, "The recruitment of Community nationals may not be restricted in number or percentage nor depend on criteria which are discriminatory by comparison with those applied to nationals". Whilst Blatter argues that the proposal would not constitute a restriction of trade as it does not place restrictions on the number of foreign players who sign contracts with clubs, others disagree, and so do the E.U. Parliament. The recruitment of a player on the basis that upon signing they will be fundamentally restricted in opportunity by virtue of the quota, does not fall in line with E.U. legislation. The opportunity to play games equates to the opportunity to work and the very fact that most players have some form of performance related pay clause within their contracts is firm enough evidence of this. I'd surprised if the attempt by Blatter to distinguish was ultimately successful - indeed the E.U. Parliament rejected the proposal by 518 votes to 49.
Aside from the legality of the proposal, opponents have other reservations relating to the proposal. Existing clubs have many foreign players already, the process of getting to a stage whereby you can reach the quota would take a while. In the intervening period between its discussion (now) and its proposed implementation (beginning 2010), teams simply wouldn't have the time to develop youth players and the price of 'eligible' current players would sky rocket - who would purchase them? The richest clubs. Revamping the Academy system - esp. regards it's training techniques takes time, a lot of time. English clubs would be at a detriment in that respect, and whilst it would force the FA to focus on getting it right at that level, in the intervening period (we're talking a decade), English clubs would have to rely on a limited pool of players, with a comparitively poor technical level compared to many other nations in Europe. In terms of UEFA competition, I think it;s fair to say you'd see fewer of the world's best combinations playing together. Combinations of great players that is, and in that respect I've no doubt it would decrease the quality of UEFA competion, and potentially FIFA competitions as players from the likes of Brazil and Argentina would have less of an opportunity of playing in Europe - where the very best already play. Either that or they'd head for the lesser European teams, diminishing their opportunity to play for the best teams - which would suit nicely Blatter objective number 2.
*Although Blatter does seek to restrict the means of the richest clubs, "the '6+5' rule supports another European Law, namely regarding having the broadest and fairest possible competition and restricting the concentration of finances and economic monopolies". In other words, he is seeking to prevent the richest clubs from dominating national/confederate competitions even further.
My view: I disagree with the proposal for most of reasons cited in the opposing arguments part - mainly because the stranglehold by the richest clubs on home 'eligible' players would be enormous. In principle, I can understand its intentions but in reality I think the proposal is impractical and if implemented would ultimately be futile.
Note to Mod's: I thought I'd put this in general discussion - seeing as it's a pretty significant proposal (even though it's quite unlikely).
*It's a subject that's been mentioned before, but I thought I'd elaborate on it.
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