EU Against Soccer Caps

In an interview with the BBC on Friday, Oct. 5, Blatter said soccer clubs should have no more than five non-nationals on the pitch at any time even if it contravenes EU labor rules.

Blatter said he wanted to cap the number of non-nationals in a team's starting 11 at just five per match from 2010.

"This is a matter of principle and we need to protect the national identity of the football clubs," Blatter said, adding it would increase opportunities for homegrown players.

"Footballers more artists than workers"

Soccer clubs in the EU currently have a limit of three players from outside the 27-member bloc, but have had no restrictions on players from within the EU since 1995.

"When you have 11 foreigners in a team, this is not good for the development of football. Football has never had the courage to go against this practice, but it must now," Blatter said.

Blatter wants sport to be given an exemption from EU rules under the bloc's new reform treaty due to agreed upon by EU governments this month.

"You cannot consider a footballer like any normal worker because you need 11 to play a match -- and they are more artists than workers," Blatter said.

"It does not matter where you are born"

Blatter's plans have met with stiff resistance from European officials and top clubs.

Blatter's UEFA or European counterpart, Michel Platini said FIFA needed to accept the plan could not work in the European Union due to laws which allow free movement of labor.

"The philosophy is fantastic but legally it is difficult," Platini told Reuters.

"I can understand FIFA because they have 208 national associations and then there are 29 (EU members) who are all in our confederation."

The G14 which represents 18 of Europe's top clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester United and AC Milan have also voiced their resistance to Blatter's plan.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Blatter's proposals were not in the interests of clubs competing in the English Premier League.

Speaking at a news conference, Wenger said: "I am against it. Sport is competitive and competition is based on merit. It does not matter where you are born. It matters who you are."

FIFA could face another "Bosman"

Blatter's plan could also run into trouble with EU authorities as was the case in 1995.

Then, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Europe's highest court, gave all sports professionals within the EU more freedom to change clubs in a decision known as the "Bosman ruling" -- named after Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman.

The court concluded that such restrictions discriminated against nationals of EU states.

The EU is also examining UEFA's "homegrown rule," which began in 2006, and according to which each team involved in European club competition must have a minimum of eight locally-trained players.