EC rules out quota but Blatter presses fight

In the constant one-upmanship over on-field quotas between Sepp Blatter and European lawmakers, the European Commission might have ended the battle with one move.

The EC declared Blatter's 6+5 plan illegal and discriminatory. Vladimir Spidla, the European Commissioner for employment, said any EU country where the 6+5 plan was in place would face legal action.

FIFA president Blatter had been trying to push a plan that would make clubs field six players in a lineup who would be eligible for the national team starting side. The other five would be foreign nationals.

The plan has met opposition from UEFA president Michel Platini, the English Premier League and various European lawmakers, as the parliament voted 10-1 against the plan. Blatter had vowed to push for it at the upcoming FIFA Congress in Sydney, Australia.

Now the plan appears unworkable in Europe.

"The Commission is showing the red card to the 6+5 rule," Spidla said. "Professional footballers are workers."

Spidla recited the usual reasons against the plan: EU regulations on free movement of labour and non-discrimination would be violated, meaning that there could be no quotas based on ethnicity.

Blatter vowed to press the fight. He said he had the backing of the FIFA Congress. The end game for the fight could be rather nasty.

"At the end of the Champions League in Europe you have in the quarterfinals four teams of the same association; in the semi-finals three of these teams," Blatter said. "Then in the final you are surprised that you have two teams of the same association? We want to bring some remedies and this is the 6+5 rule's objective."

And, once again, UEFA's home-grown talent scheme picked up another supporter. Spidla said he preferred that idea, which was based on a club fielding talent that was raised through the club's system.

The home-grown quota players would have spent at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 at the club or at another club in the same country. The quota players, however, could be of any nationality and do not need to be from the country where they are playing. It is far more tepid than Blatter's proposal, a reason so many lawmakers might be flocking to its banner.

"Compared with the intentions announced by FIFA to impose the so-called 6+5 rule which is directly discriminatory and therefore incompatible with EU law, the home-grown players rule proposed by UEFA seems to be proportionate and to comply with the principle of the free movement of workers," Spidla said.

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