Despite news stories to the contrary, FIFA’s controversial proposed rule that would require at least six home-grown domestic players in the starting lineups of every club side everywhere is still reekingly illegal in Europe.
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A report last week by the grandly named Institute for European Affairs (INEA) grandly claimed that FIFA president Sepp Blatter can tell French sides to play six Frenchmen, German sides to play six Germans, Andorran sides to genetically engineer (and hatch in the lab) six Andorrans – and there is nothing the European parliament can do or say to the contrary.
I expect that will come as news to the EU, which has iron-clad, steel-belted laws that say any holder of any European passport is free and welcome to work in any EU-member nation.
It’s exactly the same as someone from Ontario being able to work in Alberta, or a native son of Arkansas flipping burgers in New Hampshire. We don’t tend to think of European nations as provinces or states, because they’re all writ huge in history, and we grew up knowing them as independent lands.
T’ain’t so no mo’.
The report – of course – was commissioned by FIFA, and says exactly what FIFA wants it to.
Check out this dazzling piece of bureaucratic bafflegab from INEA’s website, just in case you were wondering who these guys are, and what they mean to do. INEA calls itself (deep breath) … “an ideational organization, existing as of 1995 and active in a multitude of ways (to a large extent also unofficially).”
I’m glad we cleared that up!
Folks, if I wanted to, I could commission a report today that would tell you the entire global economic catastrophe was caused by Celine Dion’s decision to shut down her Las Vegas show, and the plummeting price of wood shavings for hamster cages across the American midwest.
Not only is 6+5 patently illegal, it would cripple soccer clubs around the world – Toronto FC among them – and further limit whatever far-and-few foreign employment offers open to talented Canadian players.
Perhaps a system of incentives can be devised to open more doors for domestics. Not six in a starting lineup, which waters down the game appallingly, but a reason for big clubs to spend more time and resources on local player development. But heavy-handed, sport-shattering rules like 6+5 are designed only to favour weaker players based on their birthplace, which would be terrible for the sport.
Fortunately, Europe has stood up to FIFA before. The EU is clear on its laws, and is not shy about enforcing them. A fwibby consultant’s report might get some headlines, but it won’t get Sepp what he wants.
The president of the game is championing the game’s defacement. However you feel about the domestic player issue, the future – in this case – is better served by the guardians of the law.
Let’s have a vigourous debate, wot?
Onward!