The Beautiful Game

The EU Observer reports that FIFA President Sepp Blatter is set to push through an agreement that will cap the number of foreign nationals that are allowed to play for football clubs. Blatter’s initiative flies in the face of the ECJ’s Bosman ruling in which the Luxembourg Court declared that Article 39 of the EC Treaty, concerning the free movement of workers in the Community, ‘precludes the application of rules laid down by sporting associations under which, in matches in competitions which they organize, football clubs may field only a limited number of professional players who are nationals of other Member States.’ UEFA, the European football association, has proposed an alternative approach, namely that there will be quotas for locally trained players without discrimination on the basis of nationality. Blatter’s response is that this would expose young foreign players to exploitation. So does Blatter have a leg to stand on or is his proposal doomed to failure? And, more importantly, what would the reinstatement of a cap on foreign players do for the beautiful game?


(In the picture above: Maltese striker Michael Mifsud pauses to celebrate his single-handed shaming of Manchester Utd)

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