UK Football

By Mark Ledsom

BERNE, Switzerland, July 8 (Reuters) - The newly-formed European Club Association (ECA) has used its first meeting to oppose FIFA's controversial 6+5 proposal aimed at restricting the number of foreign players in starting line-ups.

The ECA said in a statement on Tuesday that its 103 members had "strongly endorsed the stance" taken by chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and vice-chairman Joan Laporta after talks last month with EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla.

"In ECA's view, there is no necessity for a 6+5 rule, and the organisation favours instead UEFA's 'home-grown' approach," the statement added.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has personally championed the 6+5 proposal which would limit clubs to fielding just five foreign players at the start of a match.

Blatter has argued that his idea would strengthen national teams and prevent wealthy clubs from hoarding the best international players.

UEFA, which governs European football, has repeatedly argued that the proposal is in conflict with EU labour laws on the free movement of workers within the bloc.

UEFA's rival 'home-grown' plan, which is already in force in its own Champions League competition, instead requires every club squad to include a minimum number of locally trained players.

Unlike FIFA's proposals, the UEFA version does not place any restrictions on those players' nationalities.

The ECA, which was created in January as a more representative replacement for the contentious G-14 group of leading clubs, also announced the line-up of its own executive board on Tuesday with Rummenigge being confirmed as chairman.

The 52-year-old two-time European footballer of the year had been acting chairman since the founding of the ECA but was voted in officially by the body's new 15-member board on Tuesday.

The ECA comprises 103 clubs selected purely on their UEFA ranking with at least one member from each national association.

Higher ranked associations send more representatives, with England, Spain and Italy all having five clubs in the body's general assembly.