FIFA Says “Screw the EU, We’re Voting for 6+5″

Matt, nothing's impossible; hell, I even think England will win a world cup within my lifetime! And you may be right in that FIFA's Monty Burns-esque lawyers will use the vagaries of the article to their advantage; but I have to echo Ian: I think it's a textbook reactionist solution to the "problem" of those dastardly foreigners, which I'd be surprised if the EU will accept. Speaking of UEFA, Platini did distance himself from the proposal the last I heard; but, then again, who knows what goes on behind those decidedly opaque doors.

I don't think it's impossible. If I thought it was completely impossible, it wouldn't be worth worrying or talking about. I'm just of the opinion that it's a bad idea and is very unlikely. Still, huge extra points for use of the word "squadoosh", probably my new favorite word for nothing.

I'll admit I know squadoosh about EU "freedom of movement" laws. But it looks to me like it is purposefully vague and non-specific, which means that greased palms and smoke-filled rooms are going to "help" the lawyers make the decision here. If you think 6+5 is impossible, you may be mistaken. UEFA has a losing record already with the EU, so I doubt they would try something knowing all along it is a lost cause.

All that glitters is not gold. Matt, a red card doesn't restrict a player's freedom of movement, so it's not comparable: the argument is not of labour rights in general, but of ones with respect to freedom of movement.

It's a good point that the proposed rule affects the number of players allowed on the pitch, and not in the squads; but I still think you're mistaken: it *is* an employment restriction. An EU player is paid in order to provide a service to the club: that (s)he must be able (but not guaranteed) to play competitive matches (and to undertake necessary training, maintain fitness levels...whatever). That is a contract that binds employer and employee: the player expects to be eligible to play matches except where (s)he cannot be reasonably expected to do so based on form, fitness, tactics, etc. One of those exceptions cannot, however, be nationality (simply because the EC treaty says so). Regardless of the how small the rule affects his/her chances of ultimately playing a game, if it does so in any way at all, it will violate EU law: that particular article about freedom of movement is deliberately non-specific in how it defines "employment".

I agree with Ian in that steps to restrict general social or cultural evolutions rarely, if ever, succeed: I just don't see FIFA having a case here.

A red card is not a labor issue. A red card issued because a player is from a certain country ... that's a different matter. You're saying that players can be hired from anywhere, as long as they don't start, but that's still discrimination. It's also FIFA sticking their hands in management decisions. If a player is on the squad, it has to be up to the manager to decide whether or not he starts.

I kinda like it, and I do not see the EU legal troubles being so hard to beat. A club can have as many players from wherever it wants. It is not an employment restriction. The EU cannot tell UEFA what it can and cannot require on matchdays. Is a red-card disqualification a labor issue? Players will still get paid, no matter where they are from.

By restricting clubs from taking on international players, FIFA is trying to move in the direction opposite of globalization, but so far, there have been very few successes in doing that, by anyone. Globalization has some very negative aspects, but it's just the way things are now. Whether FIFA (and we) like it or not, football is a global sport with a global market for talent, and that is not something that's going to change. Personally, I like it that way, even though I know it makes it more difficult for the little club I support to succeed.

I think it's a great rule, but perhaps it should be left up to the individual soccer associations to decide if it's right for their leagues.

MLS teams fight it every year, yes.

Given that the MLS and Australia's A-League already have similar quotas in place, wouldn't it be a good idea to start fighting against those quotas to support the EU in their fight against the mad Swiss dictator? Otherwise it would be a bit hypocritical.

It would certainly be interesting if it did happen, clubs will be selling foreign players left, right and centre. And lower division teams will be having a field day, selling their best talent to the bigger clubs just to fill a couple of positions.

But it wont be allowed to happen...if it did, then I dont think it will be a good move. Most of the best players in the world do not play in their nations league. If english clubs had to play english players, the league will not be as entertaining, because the foreign players we know and love may not be on the pitch. Sure...the table may be different come the end of the season, as bigger clubs have less of an advantage than others, but that wont last long.

Strongly against it, wont happen, forget about it Blatter!

This idea's dead in the water, Blatter's so deluded he thinks FIFA makes the laws in Europe not the EU. If they push it they'll end up losing another Bosman style case.

I think the 6+5 rule is very good

Football and money is getting out of control.

Teams like arsenal and Inter are very bad for having so little home grown talent

6+5 rule is the only good thing blatter has ever wanted to do!

I also am very interested in this issue (We at Inter Milan are not known for our Italian players). This rule would mean that quite a few clubs would have to do huge overhauls on their rosters. But no worries, I agree, the EU will never let this go into effect for EU nations. (whew - I like our Argentinians)

My favorite bit was that he said that if he couldn't convince the EU that they should get on board, then he wanted all the clubs to have a "gentleman's agreement" that they would adhere to the rule.

Talk about unenforceable.

I have to say, though, that when I brought this whole thing up on the Inter Milan blog last month, all the people commenting were pretty much for it. I think it has a lot of traction in Italy, and probably in England too.

I think that quotas are outdated and useless. If a team wants you bad enough, they will make it so you are eligible for their national team - look at all the passport shenanigans that went on Italy before they dropped their quotas for Italians on the pitch.

This rule will not solve anything. I will just reinforce xenophobic and prejudicial ideas. The best players will still get bought by the richest clubs.

I do kinda like UEFA's answer to all of this: requiring teams to add players that have come through their youth programs to rosters for Champions League games. Now, if only they were required to field them.

I wonder, though, if the 6+5 rule would work if, for the purposes of "nationality," FIFA treated the EU as one country. That is, if you are eligible to play on the national team of an EU country, you can play for any team in any EU country. The non-EU members would not be happy with this, though I think it would conform to EU rules. Certainly it would "prevent the drain of players away from Africa and Latin America" though.

Just in case anyone doesn't get the "They took our jobs!" comments: http://www.stansdad.com/season...

Yeah, if Blatter starts growing a mustache next, someone might want to consider stopping him before his next trip to France.

"Thay tuuk yur jurrbs!" Love it. Maybe FIFA just needs to build a 500-foot fence around every individual club to keep out those damn furrinerrs. 'Cause that'll make everything better. Sigh.

Yes! That's one off of my list of achievements in life!

Apart from the the issue of mid-20th century politics (heads up Jon: I'm stealing that allusion from you), I wonder if FIFA even has the jurisdiction to enforce this rule?

They couldn't force the national associations to limit their highest league to 18 teams (although, to be fair, I don't think they tried that hard; perhaps because they knew they couldn't?); and (according to the BBC's sports editor) the Premier League came to conclusion that FIFA couldn't stop the 39th game, but were forced to back off when FIFA "reminded" the FA about the 2018 World Cup.

Blatter (apparently) likes to think himself as the head of the most powerful organization in the world, but isn't FIFA just, essentially, a glorified international organizing committee? I'm wondering why Blatter doesn't just bite the bullet and invade Poland already? What odds do you think I'll get for Blatter spending the summer in Vienna trying to make a career out of painting?

Think I made my feelings clear over at the Champions League offside! Its a disgrace though.

I would be more entertained by this if it was Blatter on one side and Platini on the other ... that would be awesome. But seriously, the EU is going to fight this tooth and nail, and as powerful as FIFA is, the EU has just a tiny little bit more money and power. Ak, congrats on being the first one to say "They terk er jeerrrrbs" - you beat me to it.

DHEY TUK UR JURB!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
It's discrimination based on nationality, rather than race (but the former does imply the latter in some cases), and I don't *blame* FIFA for it because it's exists everywhere in society; but that's not an excuse. The EU was BUILT on the principles of a free market; they won't allow 6+5.

This will be an interesting battle.

I'm still dismayed though how motivated by racism this is. Hell, even the England thing fits into racist rhetoric in that an influx of others somehow causes local otherwise hard working people to lose their jobs and talents (the "they're stealing our jobs" rhetoric).

I'd really hoped the African FAs or others would have raised a fuss.

Apparently FIFA still hasn't received the memo that it's not the mid-20th century any more and that massive organized national discrimination is considered illegal in many countries.

What next... FIFA arguing that players from one country will take one roster spot while players from another country should only get 3/5 of a roster spot?

The EU will never allow it. Blatter argues that football (and now, apparently, sports in general) are "special" and so the rules should not apply; but what's his argument for this? Special because they should, by right, be allowed to restrict player movement, which is why they should be allowed to? Sounds circular to me.

6+5 helps nobody (except maybe FIFA and UEFA's local Ferrari dealership): anybody who's seen English football from the late 80s to the mid-90s knows that having the league packed with English footballers did nothing to help the clubs or the national team (England had such a good campaign in USA '94...oh, wait...).
Even if having a league packed with foreigners is a bad thing, which I'm not so sure it is (nationalism didn't work out so well with 1930s Germany did it?), this is not the way to solve it: the proper way to do it is to get the National Football Centre at Burton (a.k.a Clair-we-didn't-copy-the-french-fontaine) finished and operational as soon as possible (along with a proper coaching structure for English coaches).