The "6+5" Rule

[Trim]

FIFA congress backs Blatter over foreign quotas

SYDNEY (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter cleared the first major hurdle with his controversial "6+5 rule" on Friday when the congress of world soccer's governing body voted overwhelmingly in favour of him pursuing the plan.

Blatter remained firmly on a collision course with European lawmakers after the Sydney congress voted 155-5 in favour of the objectives of the rule which would limit the number of foreign players who can start a match to five. There were 40 abstentions.

The congress passed the resolution, asking Blatter together with European counterpart Michel Platini to "continue to explore for Europe... all possible means within the limits of the law to ensure that these crucial sporting objectives be achieved".

FIFA congress backs Blatter over foreign quotas | Sports | Reuters

[D-Kin]

Inter are screwed.

But in all seriousness it's been coming for a while as it's getting out of control in countries like England.

I don't usually agree with Blatter but I think this is a smart move.

[kyan]

There's a good article for statistics about English football and foreigners in it on the BBC website here: BBC SPORT | Football | Premier League | England player numbers at new low

The most relevant one here is probably this:



Most teams have 4-5 Englishmen, which is reasonable. I think a 5:6 ratio would be more appropriate than a 6:5 though. It would lower the standard of football in some of the leagues, probably just make the gulf between the rich and the poor even bigger. It'd force the weaker clubs to sell their brightest prospects even more because the big clubs have to fill their quotas, so the lower clubs would lose all their good Englishmen and have to go to lower divisions or their youth academies and get players who aren't good enough or ready to play at the top level while the big teams sweep up all English talent in case of an injury-crisis, whereas normally they'd be able to go abroad and get the talent from different areas, usually for cheaper. Although having said that the big clubs would have to be very careful financially because it puts the weaker clubs in a stronger position with regards to holding onto their talent so they could hold the other teams to ransom.

Still, this idea has to get past the EU first, and even then it's not going to come into effect for another 4/5 years.... If you believe Wenger even Arsenal will have a few Englishmen in the team by then!

[D-Kin]

I know not everyone agrees with this but as a fan of Italian football I think it's only right that the majority of the players are Italian, and the same can be applied to any league and country.

I mean what if every player in the Serie A was Dutch or something, that's not Italian football.

You see my point anyway.

[Forza_Roma]

Ya, heard about this...i don't mind the rule at all. Keeps players in their home country.

A couple years ago, Palermo fielded i believe 10 Italian players...awesome.

[D-Kin]

Sampdoria had only one non-Italian player in their entire squad recently as well.

[Trim]

Agreed with Kyan, 5:6 would have been better than 6:5.
Anyway, it's really a good idea. And, the system doesn't hurt Bayern at all.

Europe is not agreeing over this case though.

The European Union says the "6+5" rule would contravene its free movement of workers rules.

Blatter, however, was bullish.

"It was an overwhelming majority, overwhelming support," he smiled in a news conference. "I am sure it will be done... I am very confident about it.

"They are saying it is illegal. For what, for whom and when? And if there is a law... you know a law can be amended or altered."

Blatter said he expected the Treaty of Lisbon to be ratified by January 1 2009 which would allow the European Union to recognise that sport may be a special case.

Platini, president of European soccer body UEFA, said he fully supported Blatter's idea.

"It is a thorny issue. Europe is not (in) a comfortable position but we will do all we can to help the FIFA president reach this objective," he told the 200 assembled members.

"(If the rule as it stands were implemented) then we as UEFA would find ourselves in a difficult place and could find ourselves in court.

"I fully share the philosophy and objectives of the rule."

Germany's Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of FIFA's Football Committee, fully backed the quota proposals.

"England -- perhaps it is unfair but that's the way it is -- is the best known example (of foreign players dominating teams)," he told congress.

"Three English teams in the semi-finals (of the Champions League), Manchester United and Chelsea in the final, an extraordinary match.

But then after the match everyone regretted a single fact. That England will not be represented at the Euro.

"There is a reason for that," he said, alluding to the glut of foreign players at English clubs.

"This is the case in other countries too. We have clubs in Germany where there are no German players on the field. That is not in the interest of football and its future."

"I have always thought that when reasonable people sit around the table, a reasonable solution can be found and that is what I hope will happen here."

Blatter stressed that it was not his intention to confront lawmakers.

"When trying to introduce such a solution, naturally we shall not forget we are living in a world where we have to face national and international or regional law and it is not our intention just to go into confrontation with our governmental authorities.

"To go forward, we would say that it is the result that six players eligible to play for the national team of the country should be on the field of play at the beginning. It means that with the substitutions you could have 3+8 at the end.

"We need some consultation with the government authorities, especially in Europe, but we would propose to start a 4+7 in 2010, 5+6 in 2011 and we would be ready to apply 6+5 in 2012."

FIFA congress backs Blatter over foreign quotas | Sports | Reuters

[LAF]

This is the right move. It may make leagues weaker but it will make national teams much stronger at the same time.

[azzurri]

6+5 or 5+6 like Kyan suggested, it's an improvement. I like this idea.

[unitedfan]

Problem is, players will now get into teams because of their nationality, not because of their ability.

It's actually very bad for some national teams, such as Ireland. Players will be encouraged to take up nationalities just so they're more likey to get in their club XIs. For Ireland in particular, a lot of our players make their names in England or Scotland. Clubs will be less up to buying those players now, and we don't have the money in our football to get our league up to anyone's level. I'm sure it's gonna be the same in a few other countries too - Africans for example.

This is very beneficial to European superpowers - England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, etc, but not so beneficial to minnows European countries, African sides, Asian sides, a fair few South American sides too, although Brazil and Argentina should survive it without a scratch.

It ain't good for everyone.

[kyan]

Originally Posted by unitedfan

Problem is, players will now get into teams because of their nationality, not because of their ability.

It's actually very bad for some national teams, such as Ireland. Players will be encouraged to take up nationalities just so they're more likey to get in their club XIs. For Ireland in particular, a lot of our players make their names in England or Scotland. Clubs will be less up to buying those players now, and we don't have the money in our football to get our league up to anyone's level. I'm sure it's gonna be the same in a few other countries too - Africans for example.

This is very beneficial to European superpowers - England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, etc, but not so beneficial to minnows European countries, African sides, Asian sides, a fair few South American sides too, although Brazil and Argentina should survive it without a scratch.

It ain't good for everyone.

Good point, completely agreed.

[D-Kin]

Obviously....

Like anything there's always negatives that can be picked out.

However, for the good of our game in general it has to be done.

[kyan]

Originally Posted by D-Kin

Obviously....

Like anything there's always negatives that can be picked out.

However, for the good of our game in general it has to be done.

Well that depends on whose "our" game is.

If it's an international game, then the limits of 6:5 are too strict, if it's a domestic game then fine, let the rest of the world fight it out for themselves...

I think it's right to implement quotas at this stage, but I think a better compromise ought to be made rather than 6:5, there are loads of solutions, making a minimum number of say, 10 nationals in the first-team squad, making the limit on starting XIs 5:6 or 4:7, maybe setting a limit of 8-10 foreigners in a first-team squad.

Otherwise the strong would grow stronger and the weaker wouldn't progress. Obviously it depends on which side you're looking at this from, if you support a weak country you wouldn't want that but if you support a strong one you'd probably like the idea of international tournaments possibly being a little bit easier.

[D-Kin]

Club football > International football.

You can't do it in terms of the first team squad (as opposed to the starting likeup) because what clubs will do is promote some kids from the youth team just to make the numbers up. It helps no one.

In my opinion this rule will encourage both the bigger and smaller teams to develop their own talent. Because even the rich clubs want to save money on occassions and we all know that buying homegrown players costs more than bringing in foreigners (usually).

[kyan]

But then if club football > international football wouldn't it make sense to not have these restrictions at all, since in effect that would mean it is purely merit and not nationality involved in the selection.

The biggest benefits of this move as far as I can see are to give a greater sense of a domestic game (which at the end of the day isn't essential, although should be important) and for financial reasons but in terms of improving the standard of domestic football... I'm not so sure it will, a few more talented players will perhaps stay in the Czech Republic for example but the best of the bunch would still move abroad...