Blatter seeks quotas in light of English dominance

By Nick Harris
Thursday, 8 May 2008

English football's domination of this season's Champions League is proof that the game needs quotas on foreign players, Fifa's president, Sepp Blatter, claimed yesterday.

Blatter, 71, has made the quotas on foreigners his pet project in what is likely to be his final term in office, and will seek a mandate at Fifa's Congress in Sydney on 29-30 May to legislate within the game.

The European Commission has warned Blatter his plans are discriminatory under European law, and therefore unworkable, but Blatter wants to work towards a “6+5” rule by 2012, when he envisages no team in any domestic league will start a match with fewer than six players from the country where that team is based, and no more than five foreigners.

Blatter wants a “4+7” variation in place by 2010, moving to “5+6” in 2011 and “6+5” the following year.

"This season there were four English teams in the last eight, three in the semi-finals and two in the final,” he said. "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. This rule will be fighting against the monopolies of clubs and leagues.”

Uefa, European football's governing body, wants to work with the EU on a quota system based not on nationality but on where players are trained. Indeed a version of this is already in place for all Uefa club tournaments. A Uefa spokesman pointed out that in recent years, Spain and Italy have produced both finalists, and that “there's always been cycles of dominance by countries or by clubs.”

Blatter says “6+5” will not contravene EU labour law because it will not limit hiring of players, just the number who play.

The EU stills views this as discrimination, and is expected to vote against “6+5” today in the European Parliament in a motion tabled by a Greek MEP, Manolis Mavromatis.

"Our view is that the Fifa rule is not workable and we favour Uefa's homegrown player rule," Mavromatis said.

Africa's football 'slave trade'

By the BBC's Jon Sopel in Paris

Unscrupulous agents are bringing young African footballers to Europe and dumping them if they fail to make the grade, prompting a French official to dub the practice "the new slave trade".

France is in the vanguard of trying to outlaw soccer clubs paying for players under the age of 18 in an effort to halt the trade in young African hopefuls.

In Africa many youngsters act out their fantasy of being top stars, like one group of schoolchildren I saw having a kick-around in the Ivory Coast.

They play barefoot in the heat of the afternoon - two rocks serve as goalposts - all dreaming of one day being a top professional in Europe.

"I want to play in Europe," says one boy, "and make lots of money to send to my family".

"In Europe," says another 12-year-old, "I would play for Manchester or PSG [Paris St Germain]."

Disciplined regime
At the Paris St Germain training ground just outside Paris, there are many young African players going through their paces.

They all have agents and are well looked after by the club and put up in a smart hostel.

There is a disciplined regime of football in the mornings and schooling in the afternoon.

Bartholemew Ogbeche is 15 and was playing for the Nigerian Youth team when he was spotted and offered the chance to come to PSG.

He admits he knew little of what he was signing up to, but counts himself lucky that he is at a big club.

The question is how to protect youngsters who don't know what they are letting themselves in for.

Michele Benguigui is one of France's top agents, and brought David Ginola to Spurs from Newcastle.

He says the law needs to be tightened with stricter licensing of who can be a soccer agent.

Easy prey
Until then, he says, children will be easy prey.

"What child can resist a grown-up promising fame and riches?" he says.

We tracked down a young West African boy who was brought to France with precisely that hope of greatness.

When he was interviewed last November he had just arrived and the dream burned bright.

But he hasn't made the grade. His club has discarded him.

His agent doesn't want to know, and he was too scared to give us an interview, because he is now living as an illegal immigrant in fear of arrest.

The new slave trade
There are thought to be hundreds more like him and it is this which the French Government is determined to stamp out.

Gilles Smadga, the chief of staff to the sports minister, calls it "the new slave trade" and says it has to be stopped.

The new law will prevent cash transfers for children under the age of 18 with restrictions on the activities of both agents and clubs in their ability to put young adolescents under contract.

Smadga says what brought this to public attention was not only the treatment of African youngsters but the case of a 15-year-old French boy, Jeremy Allaniere, who was bought by Arsenal for FF1m.

It caused an enormous furore in France, and at the time Arsene Wenger said he may not have had ethics on his side, but said he had the law.

The French are determined that the law too must be called in to protect young hopefuls.