Platini rails against foreign owners and talent grabs

UEFA president Michel Platini said he wants to crack down on bigger name clubs snatching teenage talent away from clubs abroad.

He singled out English clubs as some of the worst violators.

And Platini also decried the presence of foreign owners in the ranks of the English game.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all are in the Champions League quarterfinals this week. Only one has English ownership. Arsenal is unlikely to have an English player starting against Liverpool.

Platini said he wants to work with the European Commission to limit the club jumping of teenage prospects.

Among the owners whose motives he questioned are Liverpool's George Gillett and Tom Hicks, who are in the midst of an ugly public squabble, and Manchester City's Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister. Platini said he could not figure Thaksin's motives for buying a club.

It's not only the English, but Platini hinted that changes needed to be made for the Austrian, Czech, German and Italian games.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.