FIFA Set To Back Quota Proposal

Sepp Blatter has announced today that he expects FIFA's Congress to give the "six-plus-five" quota proposal their approval.

This means that every team will be limited to five foreign players and six domestic players by the 2012-2013 season. 

It will be implemented in phases, with the number of domestic players being increased from four in 2010 to six in the 2012.

The stranger thing is that Sepp Blatter is also pushing for such quotas to be imposed on handball, volleyball, basketball, ice hockey, and many other team sports.

So, yet another foolish ruling is about to be ratified by FIFA's Congress.  However, this rule cannot be legally implemented in Europe.

The reason for this is that UEFA, headed by Michel Platini, wants the European Union (EU) to amend their current regulations which allow any number of players from any country to play for any club. The EU treats footballers like any other professionals and, hence, may not allow the ruling to come into existence.

Sepp Blatter though, thinks that he can turn the ruling in his favour. He says that key delegates in the EU support his quota.

The English Premier League is known for its diversity. Players from countries like Ecuador, China, and Togo ply their trade in this league. Reducing the number of foreign players on a team to five can have a very negative impact on, not only the English Premier League, but also the other domestic leagues.

The flip side of this argument is that teams like Arsenal are supposed to be responsible and field a suitable number of domestic players.

But, is that their prerogative? Their prerogative is to do whatever it takes to win.

It is as simple as that.

FIFA is run by a bunch of politicians who know very little about football as a sport. They feel as if they are running a government and making policy decisions when it comes to running the game.

The fact is, that nobody cares about Sepp Blatter or his colleagues—everybody cares about the quality of football being played all over the world.

If this rule somehow does get implemented—foreign talent will not get developed in England anymore.

Managers will not risk bringing in foreign players at a young age. The likes of Ronaldo and Fabregas could well be the last of their "breed" in terms of being brought in at a very young age. It might be a huge gamble for the managers to take in that scenario.

Also, all the teams will be obligated to field six domestic players—a lot of whom may not even be good enough to play at that level.

In order to please the political aspirations of one individual, the quality of football and that of the players are being compromised.

Sepp Blatter thinks that he's doing a great favor for international football.

He's probably one of the people who thinks that England didn't make it to the Euros because they didn't have enough of a talent pool. The fact is that it is the FA's fault for not having enough of a talent pool—not the individual clubs.

Why would Arsene Wenger or Rafael Benitez stop themselves from selecting an English player if he wasn't good enough?

FIFA should concentrate on providing logistical support and solving controversies surrounding the tapping-up of many players. Instead, Sepp Blatter keeps talking nonsense about how he wants to impose quotas or review a very bad tackle on a certain player (Eduardo's horrific injury).

He should, in short, do his job. He's not above the game—nobody is.

Just imagine the vibrant English Premier League becoming a league where teams are filled with sub-standard players who lacked quality.

The fact is that foreign players, along with their nationalities, bring a high level of quality into England—which is good for the game.

Football, at the end of the day, is a sport we love. The people who are supposed to safeguard this sport seem to be promoting their own agenda and are ruining it for all the fans.

FIFA should just let the game be.