Thursday, June 5, 2008

England will benefit

Fifa president Sepp Blatter is insistent that England will benefit from his new proposal to limit the amount of foreign players in domestic leagues.

Blatter is looking to push through a world-wide scheme which would see club sides only allowed to play five foreign players.

Many countries have expressed concerns at the measure, including the Premier League - where some sides have very few English players featuring on a regular basis.

But Blatter points to England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 as a good reason for the Premier League to back his plans.

"Football is unpredictable and sometimes without any logic but it is a fact that in the strongest English teams the best players are not always English," he said.

"So where are the best English players coming from? They are coming from the less strong teams, which is weakening the English national team.

"What is happening in England is that the best teams are preparing the national team players for England's opponents.

"The Premier League has benefited the other countries taking part in the European championships, but not England."

Blatter was speaking as he set to for meetings with the European Union and the president of the European parliament Hans-Gert Poettering.

One of the main hurdles for Blatter and is scheme, is whether it contravenes EU employment law.

"I am very happy that this has been accepted that the dialogue goes on, as long as we discuss, there is always a way to find possible solutions," he told Reuters.

"It's not only about the figure six plus five.

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