Blatter Still Forging Ahead With Foreign Player Rule

Sarni

You may get plenty of money for Noble and Green (especially Green) in the future if this law comes into force.

CockneyHammer

Hopefully the rest of them too, I for one hope this does come in as for once it will see West Ham benefiting for our continued development of young players

It could be argued that would give as unfair advantage over other teams, like Arsenal for example

KeyserSoze

I think these kind of things come in waves Cockney like us with Beckham, Scholes etc. Even though you have the like of Sears coming through now it will be extremely difficult to produce so many good players again. Im glad im not a West Ham fan must be frustrating seeing all of your talent prosper at other clubs.

CockneyHammer

No we got used to it, were grateful in fact. If we didn't produce the likes of Rio and Lampard ect we wouldn't be a football club now days. Selling those players helped us re-establish ourselves in the Championship and gain promotion to the Premiership a few years later. We're now going into our 4th straight season in the PL after gaining promotion and should be considered a Premiership regular now rather than a yo yo club as we was known.

Most Premier League clubs wouldn't have survived if they had the debt we had and then got relegated. We as a club own a great deal to the Academy and especially Tony Carr as they are what kept us going.

We have Sears coming through now along with Tomkins and we also have Collison who is set to make his first senior start for Wales tonight at only 19 years old. Add in Noble and Ferdinand and we have a very promising bunch here at the moment. It looks as if we may have our next golden generation on the books we just need to hope they're as good as the last lot. We also have a few very promising defenders in the youth team and one goalkeeper.

It's a big part of the reason that players like Rio and Carrick will always be respected by West Ham fans regardless of who they play for.

surf

Leaving aside West Ham for a few minutes, this is from the Grauniad:

It corroborates what Ralphie said. If the UEFA proposal is accepted, how do English clubs get foreign players in before they are 18 if they want the player to qualify as home grown? I thought the government made it difficult to sign minors from foreign countries.

ralphie88

The EC are just repeating what the law is. Nothing's changed since Bosman in 1995.

As for bringing in players under 18, FIFA's own transfer regulations prohibit this. And are likely to be strengthened rather than weakened over the next 12 months.

surf

I assume that under 18's from the EU can still be brought in, like Pique, just not countries outside the EU. Is that right?

horselesspaul

F*ck off Blatter. You're deluded. You must have KNOWN it wouldn't fly. You just wanted to bash English clubs in the Champions League (you're afraid of the power and money the Premier League has) and to look even more self-important.
C0ck.

Shrek

If I've missed something, sorry about it.

Ok, europe has or will throw his ideas out,

thats on EU free movement, what about players outside of the EU, can Blatter still have a say on them ?

marcus agrippa

yep.

associations outside UEFA can do whatever the fuck they please. but one would think they'd be more sensible. for instance, the rise of African countries as footballing nations is largely to do with the increasing number of players they export to Europe. if they go ahead and support Blatter, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, i feel.

Blatter is a moron. i can't imagine how he got to where he is, but that's politics for you.

marcus agrippa

that's correct.

surf

Blatter once played against the Busby Babes youth team, against Charlton and co. The hammering his team must have got may have made him eternally bitter against English football.

Ruud_boy_10

This rule would only benefit a handful of English, Spanish, Italian and maybe German kids who would get to play for a top 4 club without having the ability previous required. In the 70’s and 80’s English clubs were dominating European football and the national team was still piss poor. There were much more English players playing in the top division then and that made absolutely no difference. In fact, it could be argued that the quality of the elite few English players (Gerrard, Rooney, Ferdinand…etc) is as good as it has ever been.

The irony that Blatter seems oblivious to is that this rule would lower that standard of English players not increase.

AhmedDimwitson

Saw the commissioner on TV yesterday - he also said that any club that will try to inforce the 6+5 rule will be brought infront of the EU court by the commission. Blatters plan pretty much fucked.

ERICSAGOD

Just heard on the radio that they are pushing this through.

Maximum of 5 foreign players allowed.

This will hit Chelski and Arsenal hard.

Thank fcuk Fergie bought Hargreaves and Carrick.

Drifter

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter was on a collision course with European lawmakers on Friday when the congress of world soccer’s governing body voted overwhelmingly in favour of him pursuing his “6+5 rule”.

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 from 2012. 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”.

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


“Where there is a will, there is a way. And we will try with consultation and consultation and not confrontation,” Blatter told the congress.

Michel Platini, president of European soccer body UEFA, told the congress that he fully supported the philosophy of Blatter’s rule and agreed with its principles.

THORNY ISSUE

“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.

“(The rule) is considered illegal by the European Union. Within the football family we don’t all agree. Some of the leagues were against, some in favour, clubs generally against.

“(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. We are in full agreement when it comes to the general idea.”

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.

REASONABLE PEOPLE

“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.

“In our committee we have discussed this issue. It did not take much time. We want to support the FIFA president and the UEFA president because we need to find a solution with the European Union.

“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.”

ThatOldRedMagic

I posted about this on a thread a while ago. It seems to me that Blatter and co fail to appreciate the essence of this whole issue; or rather they behave in a disingenuous way in trying to represent club football in a way which conforms to their idealised, probably sentimental fantasy rather than the blunt reality of the real world we all inhabit. I'll paste my previous comments;

'...Actually, when I look at this it is typical Eurocrat socialism with the inevitable bureaucratic overview. The vanquished cohorts of unreconstructed marxism will find any stick, no matter how tiny, with which to beat the tail of triumphant market-led capitalism. No matter that it is the now-unfettered market which has delivered the world's best players into the EPL; no matter that it is the same approach to business which has lined the coffers of the Brusssells bureaucrats by making the core EU states successful and rich; no matter that the CL is the world's leading competition BECAUSE of this wealth of footballing talent which the market in all its gory glory has brought to the EPL, the Bundeslige, Serie A and La Liga. Pompous little pinko bureaucrats like Blatter mouth these sanctimonious little essays in dirigiste politics, with no apparent sense of irony that their position owes everything to the success of the leagues in question. So, he might care to ask himself, who would actually want to witness the spectacle of an emasculated version of a demonstrably mighty club turning up for a match bereft of its superstars?

The man's a tosser of the first degree.'

Developing this point (which was expressed rather luridly - heat of the moment and all that) he states no more than the truth when he points to EPL domination of the CL yet no England team in the Euro's. That's because of the success of club football in England, and the EPL's attraction to the very best players. As I said above, who the hell would want to turn out on a European night to watch Arsenal or Chelsea (never mind Real Madrid or Barcelona) lining up without several of their star players, with whom they have conquered their domestic leagues, simply because Blatter and co cover their eyes and pretend that these clubs are something fashioned from their own prejudices rather than from the cut and thrust of reality? The idea is ludicrous, and yet no-one so far has pointed to this particular elephant in the drawing room.

KeyserSoze

ERICSAGOD

Looks like FIFA have got a problem getting this through.

It would have really hit Arsenal and Chelski very hard - shame!

ThatOldRedMagic

Fuck, the more I read this the madder I get. What this boils down to, if you strip all the fine-sounding sentiments away, is 'Oh good heavens no! We cannot possibly have the best clubs winning all the time (and especially bearing in mind that most of them seem to be English at the moment!). We must instead introduce a system of handicapping'. For that is what his proposals amount to.

And that, Mr Blatter, is why The Derby is a world event, whilst the 2.45 at Fontwell is for little owners who like to play at being Sheikh Mohammed or Robert Sangster. It's why the big open golf tournaments attract such staggeringly high prizes whilst the local club is where you can have a pleasant round with the members and not automatically get thrashed by a better player. If Blatter wants to downgrade the CL to the status of a minor handicap race at a provincial course, or the social round of golf on a sunday afternoon, let him continue down this road.

Vidicious

Us:
--------------VDS-----------------
Brown-------Ferdinand--Vidic---Evra

----------Hargreaves----Carrick-----
--------------Scholes--------------

Ronaldo--------Rooney---------Tevez


Chelsea:
---------------Cech-----------------

A. Cole----Terry---Terry---------A. Cole

--------------Essien---------

---------Ballack---Lampard------

Kalou----------------------J.Cole
-------------Drogba-------

Liverpool:

----------Reina---------------

Carragher----Carragher---Carragher--Carragher

-Pennant--------Gerrard---Alonso-----Benayoun--

-----------Kuyt-----------Torres-------


Arsenal

------------Almunia---------------------

Hoyte---Hoyte--------Hoyte------Hoyte


Rosicky----Cesc Fabregas Show--Gilberto--V.Persie

Walcott---------------------Walcott



As long as Chelsea play Terry and A. Cole twice, Liverpool play a whole back four of Carragher, and Arsenal play a whole back four of Hoyte and a frontline of Walcott everyone is fine.

sully07

Am I paranoid.

For the last 20 years we have seen the Italians and then the Spanish rule europe with a large compliment of foreign players. Now the English teams begin to dominate again this rule is bought in. I am aware that this has been Blatters hobby horse for a few years but signs of English teams ruling Europe have been there for the same amount of time.

I hate this man, Platini too.

FranklyVulgar

I don't know for sure but they did have a forigners rule in the past in italy and spain.

Platini rules.

CockneyHammer

-----------------------Green

Neill----------Upson------Ferdinand---McCartney

Faubert------Parker-----Noble-----Etherington

-------------Ashton------Bellamy

Wright, Davenport, Bowyer, Zamora, Sears, Tomkins, Mullins

Easily done, don't even need any foreigners on the bench

sonymobby

I'm not so sure about that, not that I agree with that cunt but what you say is not true. For example look at the 1989 European Cup Final:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_European_Cup_Final

AC had 3 Dutch and 8 Italian players, while Steaua had 11 Romanian players.

Anw, I don't think that the EU will change its constitution to accommodate UEFA and FIFA.

ralphie88