28 May 2008'Six plus five' rule illegal say European Commission

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance | Other Football News

Fifa's proposed 'six pus five' rule where clubs must have a minimum of six domestic players starting a match was today (Wednesday May 28th) deemed unlawful by the European Commission.

The plan is set to go to Fifa congress in Sydney on Friday (May 30th 2008) but looks to have hit a snag as it breaks EU employment rules in place to stop discrimination.

The rule differs from the more favourable Uefa 'homegrown players' rule where a player should have trained for at least three years at their club or another in the same National Association between the ages of 15 and 21 to encourage proper training for young players.

The European Commission approved the homegrown rule on the basis that it contains no conditions based on nationality.

"Compared with the intentions announced by Fifa to impose the so-called 'six-plus-five' rule which is directly discriminatory and therefore incompatible with the EU law, the 'homegrown players' rule proposed buy Uefa seems to me to be proportionate and to comply with the principle of free movement of workers," said Europe's commissioner for equal opportunities, Vladimir Spidla.

The BBC recently published a study showing that on average, less than four players in every starting line up in the Premier League were English during the 2007/08 campaign.

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