World Football

By Ossian Shine

SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - The fault-line between world soccer's governing body and European law makers threatens to fracture into a full-blown schism when FIFA president Sepp Blatter brings his plans to curb the number of foreigners at clubs to FIFA's annual congress in Sydney next week.

At stake is more than a set of sporting regulations, but also the reputation of a consummate sports politician and survivor who may find the odds stacked against him in this battle of ideologies.

On the one side sits Swiss Blatter, who's oft-stated credo is to nurture soccer and ensure its growth and well-being. He could look for support to those nations who routinely suffer an exodus of talent to the rich, European leagues.

Across the indelibly drawn battle lines sit an encampment of opponents who say the so-called "6+5" proposal -- limiting the number of foreign players who start a match to five -- is a product of jealousy and an unworkable policy which contravenes the European Union's free movement of workers rules.

Already, Blatter's proposal would seem to have placed great strain on the harmony between soccer's leagues and the sport's national, regional and global bodies. Whether it will lead to more serious, permanent damage, remains to be seen.

England's Premier League has blamed the proposal to limit foreign players on jealousy.

"There is an envy out there. You cannot deny it. It is there," Premier League chief executive Peter Scudamore said recently, describing the English top flight as "a ladder to the stars".

Scudamore says the proposal is a result of legislators looking at English soccer - European Champions League winners Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea both play in England's top flight - and deeming it far too successful.

COLLISION COURSE

Regardless of the motives behind the proposal, Italian champions Inter Milan, who have a large South American contingent contingent in their squad, said they would find the implementation of such a foreign quota ruling very tough.

"We will find it difficult because those that have good Italian players want to keep them and it is difficult to find Italians at a good enough level for Inter," coach Roberto Mancini said earlier this season. Blatter, though, insists foreign quotas are vital for the future of the sport.

"If the Congress says it does not want these measures then we would have to rewrite our statutes, because football would no longer be able to fulfil the aims of FIFA which include a role to develop the game everywhere," the Swiss told Reuters earlier this month.

The issue has set Blatter on a collision course with European soccer's governing body UEFA as well as the European Parliament.

UEFA chief Michel Platini has made it clear he is not prepared to "burn his fingers in Brussels" with what he considers an "impossible" ruling.

Brussels mandarins, meanwhile, are calling on Blatter to instead throw his political might behind UEFA's 'home-grown' rule which is centred on the number of locally-trained players regardless of their nationality.

Blatter, however, is set on his controversial rule and says he does not fear contravening EU rules with his proposal.

"I am not convinced that the proposal is against EU law," Blatter insisted, "because we are not placing any restrictions on the number of foreign players who sign contracts with the clubs -- just the number who start each game.

"Of course it will eventually lead to a reduction in the number of foreign players signed because of the need to always have six players (in the starting line-up) who are eligible for the national team in that country, but this will come in step-by-step."

Blatter hopes to introduce the quota from 2010 with a minimum of four home players, going up to five in 2011 and the full six by 2012.