31 Mar 2009Mourinho lends support to Fifa foreign player caps

Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

Jose Mourinho has voiced his agreement with Fifa's calls to limit the number of foreign nationals playing in domestic leagues.

Under the proposed '6+5' rules, all teams playing in the leagues of the governing body's 208 member nations would be required to start a game with at least six players who would be eligible to play for the country of the club.

While such caps have attracted widespread criticism over the years, the Inter Milan boss has given his backing to the initiative.

"The sentiment I think is correct. I'm not concerned about the exact number, 3+3 or 4+4 or 5+5, that's not the point," he said in an interview with ESPN.

"But the philosophy of teams to look to youth policy and youth development, I think the philosophy is correct, yes."

Over the past few months, Mourinho himself has started to give Italian talent a chance in his side, with the likes of Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli, though the team that looks set to win the Serie A title is still largely composed largely of foreign nationals.

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