Blatter - limit foreign players

kerash

Didnt see a thread on this yet, basically Sepp Blatter wants a quota on the amount of foreign players starting on teams, due to the fact that ;
"For the last two seasons there have been three English clubs in the last four of Europe's elite club competition and Blatter fears a monopolisation of football. Blatter, who believes the richest clubs will buy up the best players from all over the world and ignore domestic talent, is to seek a mandate from the FIFA Congress later this month to begin talks with the European Union and football's authorities over implementing a 'six-plus-five' rule where a maximum of five players in a starting XI can be foreign."

FIFA will also look to extend the residency period to five years before a player can represent another country - in some countries the period is currently as short as two years.

The full article is here http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0507/quotas.html?RTEMAILID

he says
'The big money is coming out of the Champions League - it's the biggest league in the world and practically 80% of the income goes to the directly to the 32 participating clubs. This season there were four English teams in the last eight, three in the semi-finals and two in the final.

'The Champions League has been very successful financially but it has also favoured national inequality. That's why, being in charge of football, I have to bring this item to the attention of the Congress.

'This is the sporting situation but let us start with our idea of the six-plus-five rule and then we will see what the difference will be in the future."

I cant see it coming to anything, the money men wont like it, also maybe case of sour grapes? The current premiership teams would look fairly different if it was brought in to force tho! Could they compete I wonder...

el rabitos

its like he comes out with this same **** every 4 - 6 months and does nothing every single time.

Bounty Hunter

He obviously needs some serious discussion with the EU befre implementing such an idea as it needs to be legal and not restrict players freedom to work etc... but I actually like this idea. It could be one of the few things that might break the top 4's domination also as it will force them to develop their own young local talent instead of just buying the best available.

Mitch Connor

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

He obviously needs some serious discussion with the EU befre implementing such an idea as it needs to be legal and not restrict players freedom to work etc... but I actually like this idea. It could be one of the few things that might break the top 4's domination also as it will force them to develop their own young local talent instead of just buying the best available.

or they'll just steal any youth players, with even a hint of potential, from the smaller english clubs for a modest price and then loan them out/sell them on as they see fit. It would also massively increase the prices for the already over-valued english players.

Xavi6

European work laws won't allow it. He's just talking through his arse yet again.

deisedevil

Xavi6 wrote: »

European work laws won't allow it. He's just talking through his arse yet again.

Is it just me or does Blatter talk through his arse on a constant basis. He never seems to get things right and is always sticking his oar in where it's not needed and complicating things. For example the whole Taylor tackle on Eduardo. He blew that out of all proportion and then admitted that he hadn't seen it yet but would be getting FIFA to come down hard on Taylor. What happened with that, more talking out of his anus.

Xavi6

He does talk a load of bollox alright. However, he was right about the whole 'shorter shorts for women' thing

Keano

If anyone deserves the title of Langer he does!

Nothing but shíte comes from his mouth.

Pepe LeFrits

He's a stupid fat oaf.

This is a terrible idea and I pray that it never gets anywhere.

Mr Alan

surely there has to be a "greatest quotes" for him similar to Dunphy?

I'd imagine that'd provide a chuckle

Keano

Mr Blatter take your FAIL
FAIL

leninbenjamin

Mr Alan wrote: »

surely there has to be a "greatest quotes" for him similar to Dunphy?

I'd imagine that'd provide a chuckle

can't see any. so we should make one. here's a few;

"Football is open for everybody, which is why they made a gay competition in South America. And look at women's football: homosexuality is more popular there."

"Before, the problem was tackling from behind, but now players are doing it from the front and from the side."

meditraitor

That will never happen, blatter is a moron. Some reasons and hurdles in this article from a month ago

By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS, April 17 (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter aims to bypass the European Union and UEFA next month over plans to curb foreign players at soccer clubs, which could lead to a spate of costly court cases, FIFA officials said.

UEFA has so far dismissed Blatter's proposal to restrict teams to five foreign nationals on the pitch on the grounds that it conflicts with EU laws on the free movement of workers, potentially leading to widespread legal actions.

Despite UEFA's stance and EU opposition, the world game's top official will seek a "gentleman's agreement" on the matter among the national associations, including those in Europe, at FIFA's annual congress in Sydney next month, bypassing Europe's governing body, the officials said.

UEFA favours reaching a deal with the EU's executive Commission on its home-grown player rule which sets a quota of locally trained players at clubs but without any discrimination on nationality. FIFA says that does not go far enough and allows too much exploitation of young players by clubs.

To change the rules, Blatter needs 75 percent support at the congress where each of FIFA's 208 member associations who are eligible to vote have one vote each and UEFA as an organisation has none.

Tensions have risen between the two power brokers after UEFA president Michel Platini refused to accompany Blatter on a trip to Brussels last week to convince the EU institutions of the merits of his plan, prompting the FIFA chief to cancel.

A spokesman for Blatter blamed "circumstances beyond our control" for the u-turn, but EU, FIFA and UEFA sources told Reuters that Brussels officials and some lawmakers did not wish to engage with Blatter on the issue, notably in the absence of Platini.

"As far as the EU is concerned, Blatter is flogging a dead horse and any discussion would have been pointless," one EU official familiar with the situation said.

COURT ACTION

FIFA and UEFA sources said Platini advised Blatter in a letter not to travel to the EU capital as it could harm UEFA's positive relationship with Brussels, sparking an angry response from Blatter who warned Platini that failure to back him could have major consequences for their relationship in the future.

"He (Blatter) doesn't want a war with UEFA or to anger the EU, but this is a point of principle for him," one FIFA official said.

"When he became president he made a promise on this and he sees this as a major legacy of his time in office. He believes he can get a gentleman's agreement with all the national associations."

EU and UEFA officials warned that such a deal could prompt multi-million court cases challenging the rule and eventually end up before the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

In a similar case on the free movement of players across the 27-member bloc in 1995, the ECJ ruled against football's authorities. The judgement, known as the "Bosman ruling", proved damning for the sport and changed the face of the game forever.

"Firstly you must be confident you are dealing with gentlemen that will stick to the deal. But in this day and age that is highly unlikely," a senior UEFA source said. (Editing by Rex Gowar)

ROCKMAN

kerash wrote: »

Didnt see a thread on this yet, basically Sepp Blatter wants a quota on the amount of foreign players starting on teams, due to the fact that ;
"For the last two seasons there have been three English clubs in the last four of Europe's elite club competition and Blatter fears a monopolisation of football. [/I]Blatter, who believes the richest clubs will buy up the best players from all over the world and ignore domestic talent, is to seek a mandate from the FIFA Congress later this month to begin talks with the European Union and football's authorities over implementing a 'six-plus-five' rule where a maximum of five players in a starting XI can be foreign."

FIFA will also look to extend the residency period to five years before a player can represent another country - in some countries the period is currently as short as two years.

The full article is here http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0507/quotas.html?RTEMAILID

he says
'The big money is coming out of the Champions League - it's the biggest league in the world and practically 80% of the income goes to the directly to the 32 participating clubs. This season there were four English teams in the last eight, three in the semi-finals and two in the final.

'The Champions League has been very successful financially but it has also favoured national inequality. That's why, being in charge of football, I have to bring this item to the attention of the Congress.

'This is the sporting situation but let us start with our idea of the six-plus-five rule and then we will see what the difference will be in the future."

I cant see it coming to anything, the money men wont like it, also maybe case of sour grapes? The current premiership teams would look fairly different if it was brought in to force tho! Could they compete I wonder...

Think blatter has a major dislike for the English, and the premiership . The man said nothing when Spain and Italy where dominating Europe.

As for the richest clubs buying the best players around , It seems that it was OK for REAL or Barca to do this for the last ten years or more but now their been surpassed by English Club. BLATTER has a problem.....hmmmm

Boggles

When is this muppets reign over?

He does get up my goat.

Mossy Monk

The European Union have said this will be illegal so forget about it.

Galvasean

I'm glad he'll probably never be taken seriouly.
i mean, arsenal would be screwed! :eek:

OhNoYouDidn't

Mossy Monk wrote: »

The European Union have said this will be illegal so forget about it.

Source?

This would be fantastic for Irish football if it ever came to pass. English clubs would have to cull their foreign legions, meaning only the very best Irish would survive over there, meaning a stem in the flow of Irish talent overseas at a young age and meaning the LoI would be a far more attractive proposition now foreign fields are more difficult to get onto.

leninbenjamin

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Source?

It was in the Irish Times today that the parliment had a vote on it and it was soundly rejected (around 400 against to 50 in favour iirc). They did however pass UEFAs proposal for the homegrown quota, but FIFA are objecting to this as they say it will result in young players being uprooted at an even earlier age (which is a valid concern imo).

This would be fantastic for Irish football if it ever came to pass. English clubs would have to cull their foreign legions, meaning only the very best Irish would survive over there, meaning a stem in the flow of Irish talent overseas at a young age and meaning the LoI would be a far more attractive proposition now foreign fields are more difficult to get onto.

not sure i'd agree. I just don't think the LoI has enough public lure to be able to build on this. i'd say it will simply result in less Irish professional footballers.

OhNoYouDidn't

leninbenjamin wrote: »

not sure i'd agree. I just don't think the LoI has enough public lure to be able to build on this. i'd say it will simply result in less Irish professional footballers.

Look at Leinster - internationals on show from 200 to 20,000 paying customers in five years.

Regardless of whether people show up, fringe intenational players based at home cannot be a bad thing.