FIFA President sticks his Oar in Again.

Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president announced on Thursday that he would work to introduce a law limiting the foreign players allowed in a club’s starting XI to five. UEFA’s plan – having a minimum number of home-grown or domestic players in the Champions League – is much more realistic, though even that is under threat from Brussels.

According to Blatter, “it would preserve a club’s identity.” Well, as far as I can tell, the identity of a football club has always come from its supporters rather than its players. Let’s face it, as far as Arsenal fans are concerned, Liverpool is no further removed than Russia.

The Fifa president also says that it would help the development of youth players. Where on earth he comes up with this idea is beyond me.

Fewer players would go abroad and more would stay home. That’s a good thing, right? I don’t think so. More likely they would simply stay at the big clubs in their own countries. And, while it might make the top teams in the Netherlands, Portugal and other “exporting” countries more competitive, it would also maintain, if not increase, the gap between rich and poor domestically.

Countries like Brazil, Argentina and Nigeria thrive on exporting players. Is it fair to deny them the right to export one of their most prized commodities? Of course not. This whole suggestion is unwirkable and I really wonder what on earth he is thinking.

Trade barriers do not work. All that happens is that prices for domestic goods increase and the quality of those goods decreases. If the rule were introduced tomorrow in the Premier League, not only would the cost of English players increase dramatically, those English players would be facing inferior competition, and likely the game would suffer.

So, please remove your oar from the water Mr. Blatter.