Trap sympathy for Blatter proposals
Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni admits that he can understand the motivation behind the Blatter proposals to limit the number of foreign players in club football.
Football's world governing body [url=/Templates/News/NewsArticle.aspx?id=44582&epslanguage=EN]voted in favour[/url] of the 'six-plus-five rule' at their annual congress in Sydney, Australia, which would check the number of foreign players each team could field.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter wants the rule in place by the 2012/13 season, but the European Union has already warned that the regulation would contravene EU labour laws.
Nonetheless, Trapattoni understands the reasoning behind FIFA’s proposals.
“In Italy, we have teams with ten foreigners. And it meant that, in the past, we had a problem for the national team,” he told reporters on Friday.
“I think we have seen this proposal many times. First with Michel Platini, now with Blatter. They are asking that question, because national teams need young players to grow.
“Today, football clubs are limited companies, they are businesses. They have other problems [than the well-being of national sides.] “
However, the 69-year-old does not feel that the ruling will in any case impinge too much on Ireland players at Premier League clubs.
“I don’t think it will affect our players much. Many Ireland players play in England, but only maybe two in a team. I don’t think it is a big problem for Irish football.”
The Football Association of Ireland have expressed their support for UEFA’s counter-proposal, which would guarantee team appearances for "home-grown players" who, regardless of age or nationality, have been trained by their club or by a different club in that national association for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
“Congress have mandated FIFA today to explore the Blatter proposal, and have a meeting with the EU in June. We will see what come out of that, but at the moment we would support the UEFA position in that matter,” a spokesman told reporters. |
發表於 2008-5-30 06:52 PM
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