Press coverage
UK sets up review of how football is runEuractiv
In Short:
Sports ministers from the UK, Spain, Germany, France and Italy are set to join the European Commission and football governing bodies to help football deal with a range of issues.
Brief News:
The European Commission, UEFA, FIFA, the European Professional Football Leagues and Sports Ministers from the 5 major European domestic leagues will meet on December 8 to discuss how football can adopt better corporate and social governance across Europe.
A major issue that will be on their agenda, as reported in EurActiv (see 16 November 2005), is the new UEFA rule on 'home grown players', whereby clubs entering UEFA competitions will have to have fourl locally trained players as from the 2006-07 season.
Regulation of agents was raised as an issue in a report by the European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. Player agents are intermediaries in the transfer of players to new clubs.
"Although the occupation of agent has become more professional in the recent years there still exists a somewhat stained reputation of the agent in general. This has mainly to do with incidents in which agents have been involved and that dealt with fraud, excessive fees and the abuse of young players," says the report.
Other issues up for discussion include:
- Club Financing
- Fit and proper persons tests
- Continued investment into grassroots football and stadia
----------------------------------------------
MEP wants to avoid a second 'Bosman' in sport
Euractiv
In Short:
An EP committee study recommends that the Parliament urge UEFA and FIFA bring their rules into line with EU competition law. It also calls for a directive on the liberalisation of professional football.
Background:
A study commissioned by the Internal Market committee of the European Parliament was presented in Strasbourg on 28 September. The study, which focuses mainly on professional football, was initiated by Toine Manders (ALDE, NL) and drafted by the Asser Instituut in The Hague and Lancaster University in the UK.
Following the ECJ's Bosman ruling in 1995, foreign players flooded into domestic leagues. The ruling made clubs' demands for a transfer fee after a player's contract had expired and UEFA's quota system of three foreigner and two 'assimilated' foreigner players in a team illegal.
Many in the sporting world are wary of another Bosman-type ruling. Among the hot ongoing legal issues are the problems that FC-Charleroi have encountered with regard to the conditions under which club players are released to play for national teams.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has recently started an investigation on the sale of the media rights in the UK.
Issues:
The study says that a Commission directive for the liberalisation of the professional football sector in particular, may be a useful instrument to pave the way for changes in case individual clubs or groupings of clubs wish them to happen on the basis of the principles of fair competition under European Law. In such a directive special attention should be also paid to the crucial competition issue of state aid. It is not yet clear what is legally allowed or not under the EC Treaty, says the study.
The report says that its main conclusion is that governing bodies like UEFA and FIFA can no longer act contrary to EU legislation and should adapt their rules and regulations to the acquis communautaire.
The report also contains an extensive analysis of the current discrepancies between internal market legislation and professional sports. Among many other matters the report deals with the free movement of persons, media rights and the license system.
Often the principles of the internal market and fair competition are not consistent with developments in professional sports. Good examples of this inconsistency are the so called Bosman ruling and the sale of the media rights in the UK, says the study.
Positions:
"This study gives us the opportunity to create legal certainty for all parties concerned - players, clubs and other organisations. I want to prevent EU court judges from determining the future of professional soccer, not by making new law but by forcing organisations like UEFA to act in accordance with EU law," said Dutch MEP Toine Manders.
"It is important to avoid a second Bosman-type case. The last one led to the collapse of the entire football market," added Manders. One example of a legal grey area that he says needs to be cleared up is whether or not clubs can play in leagues in other countries.
Johnathan Hill, head of UEFA's EU office in Brussels, cast doubt on the accuracy and coherence of the study, saying that the report was "less an academic study about sport and the EU and more a political paper promising a specific agenda - the interests of the richer clubs".
In particular, commenting on UEFA's new home grown players rule to be introduce in 2006 (see EurActiv 12 May 2005), he says that the study provides no evidence to back up its statement that "it is quite obvious that most of the "home grown" players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners. The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated".
Although conceding that the EU does intervene where sport is a commercial activity, Hill says that it is a long way from saying that there should be an internal market for sport, which he sees as the starting point of the study.
Internal Market Commissioner McCreevy said that "There are a number of unresolved issues being identified in this study. Professional sports also need legal certainty. We will look at the recommendations carefully to see how we could best respond to them."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Europarlement plant hoorzitting over nieuwe regels clubvoetbal
30 September 2005
De Tijd
Ivo Belet (CD&V) wil dat parlement zelf initiatief neemt
Het Europees Parlement organiseert op voorstel van de commissie Sport een hoorzitting over de nieuwe regels in het Europese clubvoetbal. De UEFA wil dat clubs meer aandacht besteden aan lokaal opgeleide spelers, maar de vrees bestaat dat dit in strijd is met de Europese concurrentie-regels. CD&V-europarlementslid Ivo Belet wil dat het parlement het laken naar zich toetrekt en steunt het initiatief van de UEFA.
De Europese voetbalfederatie UEFA keurde op haar congres in april in Talinn enkele maatregelen goed om clubs te verplichten meer aandacht te hebben voor lokaal opgeleide spelers. Voetbalclubs die vanaf het seizoen 2006-2007 willen deelnemen aan de Champions League of de UEFA Cup, moeten minstens vier lokaal opgeleide spelers in hun kern van 25 voetballers hebben. Twee spelers moeten de jeugdopleiding van de club zelf hebben doorlopen, nog eens twee de jeugdopleiding van een club uit hetzelfde land. Tegen het seizoen 2008-2009 moet het aantal jeugdspelers worden opgetrokken tot acht: minstens vier uit de eigen opleiding en vier uit het eigen land.
Ivorianen
De UEFA nam die maatregel om clubs aan te porren meer te investeren in de eigen jeugd. Sinds het Bosman-arrest van tien jaar geleden, waardoor spelers zonder een transfervergoeding kunnen vertrekken na afloop van hun contract, trekken topclubs steeds vaker spelers uit het buitenland aan. Daardoor is het aantal 'lokale spelers' in de Europese competities de afgelopen tien jaar gemiddeld met 30 procent gedaald.
De nieuwe maatregel van de UEFA legt geen nationaliteitsvereiste op. De lokaal opgeleide speler hoeft dus niet de nationaliteit van de club van het land te hebben. UEFA definieert een jeugdspeler als iemand die tussen zijn 15de en 21ste minstens drie jaar bij die club zijn opleiding heeft gekregen. Het is dus perfect mogelijk dat SK Beveren aan een Europese competitie deelneemt met elf Ivorianen, als die hun opleiding bij Beveren of een andere Belgische club hebben genoten. De UEFA legt geen nationaliteitsvereiste op, precies om tegemoet te komen aan de Europese regels in verband met het vrij verkeer van personen en werknemers.
Het Nederlandse europarlementslid Toine Manders van de liberale VVD oordeelde eerder deze week dat de voorstellen van de UEFA weinig kans maken bij de Europese Commissie. Hij baseert zich daarvoor op een studie van het TCM Asser Instituut uit Den Haag, dat op Manders' vraag de voorstellen van de UEFA afzette tegenover de regels van vrij verkeer. Manders is in het Europees parlement lid van de commissie Interne Markt. De studie heeft verder geen politiek karakter en is geen officieel document van het Europees parlement of de Europese Unie, zoals in enkele kranten verscheen.
Sociale dimensie
'Mijn indruk is dat Manders toch wel erg snel tot zijn conclusie komt. De studie beschrijft drie mogelijke uitzonderingen, maar daar rept hij niet over', oordeelt Ivo Belet, europarlementslid voor de CD&V en lid van de commissie Sport. Belet heeft zich er eerder al uitgesproken om sport niet enkel als een economische activiteit te zien, maar ook rekening te houden met de sociale dimensie van sport. 'In de commissie Sport groeit daar langzaam maar zeker een consensus over. In die zin pleiten wij inderdaad voor een gedeeltelijke beperking van het vrij verkeer om de opleiding van jonge spelers te bevorderen. Dat kan trouwens volgens een verklaring bij het Europees Verdrag van Amsterdam uit 1996.'
Cruijff
Op voorstel van Belet besliste de commissie Sport gisteren in het parlement een hoorzitting te houden met alle betrokkenen, zoals de UEFA, en sociale initiatieven zoals het Britse 'Football in the Community' en de Johan Cruijff Foundation. 'Het Europees Parlement moet het laken nu naar zich toetrekken, en daarin moet de commissie Sport het voortouw nemen. Anders zou Manders inderdaad wel eens gelijk kunnen hebben.'
Probleem is dat door het uitblijven van de Europese Grondwet er een juridisch vacuum is ontstaan, waardoor de Commissie geen beslissing kan nemen. 'Als een speler of een club nu naar het Europees Hof zou trekken, zou er een nieuw Bosman-arrest kunnen volgen. Daarom moet het parlement snel handelen, want we hebben de bevoegdheid om zelf zo'n initiatief te nemen', vindt Belet. DV
----------------------------------------------------------------
Uefa 'foreigners' plan is doomed
The Daily Telegraph(London)
29 September 2005
UEFA are unlikely to get their wish for clubs in the Champions League and the Uefa Cup to include "home-grown" players in their squads from next season as it is contrary to EU law, a report for the European Parliament has concluded.
Arsenal are among a host of leading European clubs opposed to the ruling as they fear it could mean fielding weakened teams, which was the case with the overseas player restrictions during the Nineties.
Uefa's scheme intends that from the start of 2006-07 clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man European squads, with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09.
While the quotas refer to where a player has been trained rather than his nationality, the study - by Dutch legal institute T M C Asser, Lancaster University and Dutch sports consultancy Sport2B - argued that they would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
The report said: "It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners. The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate [against] foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated."
It concluded that the rule "will most likely not be able to be introduced under the current framework of EU law" and called for consultations across the sport to examine possible alternatives.
One of the key aims of the EU's single market is to remove barriers to the free flow of labour and goods across borders. Uefa define home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
Meanwhile, the Football League have demanded that the Football Association give them the right to regulate agents dealing with their 72 clubs. The request comes out of frustration at the failure of the FA to gain agreement for their new agents regulations from the Premier League.
Lord Mawhinney, the chairman of the Football League, has written a strongly worded letter to his counterpart at the FA, Geoff Thompson, a copy of which was received by all League clubs yesterday.
The League are frustrated that though the FA appear to agree with their stance, they have been unable to change their laws and have failed to persuade the Premier League to change. The sticking point remains whether agents should be able to represent more than one party in any transaction, something the League believes to be an unacceptable conflict of interests.
In his letter to Thompson, Mawhinney complains of the lack of progress in respect of "regulating the activity of agents" and that it remains a "major concern for the Football League".
The League have introduced a "fit and proper persons" test for club directors and Mawhinney adds that "our clubs are prepared to lead the way once again if progress cannot be made in the important area of agents regulations".
If, at tomorrow's FA board meeting, progress with the Premier League can be made, an overall change in regulations may be achieved. However, if the Premier League dig in their heels over their view that, in a world-wide transfer market there should be fewer restrictions regarding agents, the Football League will seek to 'go it alone', something which could have serious implications in future transfer dealings.
The League are also seeking the FA's permission to extend their own regulations to possibly include a situation where agents are paid only by the player they are helping to transfer.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Uefa dismisses 'flawed' report on player quota proposal
The Times (London)
29 September 2005
UEFA, European football's governing body, has dismissed as "essentially flawed" a report that concluded new rules obliging clubs to have a quota of home-grown players would fall foul of European Union discrimination laws.
The report for the European Parliament, presented by Toine Manders, a Dutch MEP, said the proposed changes to the make-up of squads from next season would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
"It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners," the report, co-authored by TMC Asser, a Dutch legal institute, Sport2B, a Dutch sports consultancy, and Lancaster University, said. "The rule would make it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated."
Uefa defines home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21. The new rules, agreed in April, will apply only to clubs playing in the Champions League and Uefa Cup. From next season, clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man squads, with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09.
Several leading clubs have voiced opposition to the scheme, which yesterday's report said would not be possible to introduce under EU law.
Uefa said that the findings would not alter its policy. "The report is essentially flawed," a spokesman said. "All the principles of solidarity at the roots of our game are completely left out. It is based on a US-style franchise system and is not relevant to the way Europeans view their sport."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Uefa-plannen zijn in strijd met EU-regels
29 September 2005
Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant
STRAATSBURG - De wens van de Europese voetbalbond om deelnemers aan de Champions League en de Uefa-beker te verplichten tenminste zes zelf-opgeleide spelers in de selectie te hebben, krijgt waarschijnlijk niet de goedkeuring van de Europese Unie.
Uit een in opdracht van het Europees Parlement uitgevoerde studie valt op te maken dat de regel, die in 2006 zou worden ingevoerd, in strijd is met het vrij verkeer van werknemers tussen de lidstaten. Met de maatregel wil de Uefa onder andere het ongelimiteerd aantrekken van buitenlandse spelers een halt toeroepen. ANP/RTR
----------------------------------------------------------------
Europese regels zitten UEFA-plannen dwars
29 September 2005
Dagblad van het Noorden
Straatsburg - De wens van de Europese voetbalbond UEFA om deelnemers aan de Champions League en de UEFA-beker te verplichten tenminste zes zelf-opgeleide spelers in de selectie te hebben, krijgt waarschijnlijk niet de goedkeuring van de Europese Unie. Uit een in opdracht van het Europees Parlement uitgevoerde studie viel op te maken dat de regel, die in 2006 zou worden ingevoerd, in strijd is met het vrij verkeer van werknemers tussen de lidstaten. Met de maatregel wil de UEFA onder andere het ongelimiteerd aantrekken van buitenlandse spelers een halt toeroepen. Hoewel de verplichting niets zegt over de nationaliteit van spelers, hebben de onderzoekers geconcludeerd dat er sprake is van discriminatie. (ANP/RTR)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Uefa dismisses report on player quota plan as 'flawed';European Champions League;Football
Ashling O'Connor
29 September 2005
The Times
UEFA, European football's governing body, has dismissed as "essentially flawed" a report that concluded new rules obliging clubs to have a quota of home-grown players would fall foul of European Union discrimination laws.
The report for the European Parliament, presented by Toine Manders, a Dutch MEP, said the proposed changes to squads from next season would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
Uefa defines home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21. The new rules, agreed in April, will apply only to clubs playing in the Champions League and Uefa Cup. From next season, clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man squads, with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09.
"Our legal experts are firmly convinced that the quota system offers no obstruction to the freedom of movement within the EU," a Uefa spokesman said.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Football: Uefa quota rule falls foul of EU
By Kieran Daley
29 September 2005
The Independent
A Uefa rule obliging clubs to include 'home-grown' players in their squads is likely to fall foul of EU laws on discrimination, a report for the European Parliament concluded yesterday.
The rule will affect the continent's top clubs from next season. Although the quotas refer to where a player has been trained rather than his nationality, the study argued they would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
'It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners,' said the report. 'The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate [against] foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated.'
It concluded the rule 'will most likely not be able to be introduced under the current framework of EU law' and called for consultations across the sport to examine possible alternatives.
Uefa defines home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
The new rules, agreed in April, will apply only to clubs playing in Champions' League and Uefa Cup matches, but Uefa hopes the policy will be introduced at domestic level soon.
From the 2006-07 season clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man squads, with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09. Some leading clubs have voiced opposition to the scheme.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Uefa 'foreigners' plan is doomed
By Christopher Davies and John Ley
29 September 2005
The Daily Telegraph
UEFA are unlikely to get their wish for clubs in the Champions League and the Uefa Cup to include "home-grown'' players in their squads from next season as it is contrary to EU law, a report for the European Parliament has concluded.
Arsenal are among a host of leading European clubs opposed to the ruling as they fear it could mean fielding weakened teams, which was the case with the overseas player restrictions during the Nineties.
Uefa's scheme intends that from the start of 2006-07 clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man European squads, with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09.
While the quotas refer to where a player has been trained rather than his nationality, the study - by Dutch legal institute T M C Asser, Lancaster University and Dutch sports consultancy Sport2B - argued that they would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
The report said: "It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners. The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate [against] foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated.''
It concluded that the rule "will most likely not be able to be introduced under the current framework of EU law'' and called for consultations across the sport to examine possible alternatives.
One of the key aims of the EU's single market is to remove barriers to the free flow of labour and goods across borders. Uefa define home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
Meanwhile, the Football League have demanded that the Football Association give them the right to regulate agents dealing with their 72 clubs. The request comes out of frustration at the failure of the FA to gain agreement for their new agents regulations from the Premier League.
Lord Mawhinney, the chairman of the Football League, has written a strongly worded letter to his counterpart at the FA, Geoff Thompson, a copy of which was received by all League clubs yesterday.
The League are frustrated that though the FA appear to agree with their stance, they have been unable to change their laws and have failed to persuade the Premier League to change. The sticking point remains whether agents should be able to represent more than one party in any transaction, something the League believes to be an unacceptable conflict of interests.
In his letter to Thompson, Mawhinney complains of the lack of progress in respect of "regulating the activity of agents'' and that it remains a "major concern for the Football League''.
The League have introduced a "fit and proper persons'' test for club directors and Mawhinney adds that "our clubs are prepared to lead the way once again if progress cannot be made in the important area of agents regulations''.
If, at tomorrow's FA board meeting, progress with the Premier League can be made, an overall change in regulations may be achieved. However, if the Premier League dig in their heels over their view that, in a world-wide transfer market there should be fewer restrictions regarding agents, the Football League will seek to 'go it alone', something which could have serious implications in future transfer dealings.
The League are also seeking the FA's permission to extend their own regulations to possibly include a situation where agents are paid only by the player they are helping to transfer.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Europa zit UEFA in de weg
29 September 2005
De Stentor
STRAATSBURG - Een in april aangenomen UEFA-richtlijn die voetbalclubs vanaf het seizoen 2006-2007 verplicht vier zelf-opgeleide spelers in hun selectie op te nemen, zal worden afgewezen op grond van de wet van vrij verkeer van werknemers in de Europese Unie.
Richtlijn in strijd met EU-wet
Dat is de conclusie van een onderzoek dat in opdracht voor het Europese Parlement is uitgevoerd door de Universiteit van Lancaster in samenwerking met het Asser Instituut en sportadviesbureau Sport2B uit Nederland.
Uit de studie blijkt dat er indirect sprake zal zijn van discriminatie van buitenlandse voetballers. De UEFA definieert zelf-opgeleide (‘home-grown’) spelers als die spelers tussen hun vijftiende en 21e jaar gedurende ten minste drie jaar hun opleiding hebben genoten bij de betreffende club of een andere club in hetzelfde land.
In het rapport staat dat ‘het voor de hand ligt dat de meeste zelf-opgeleide spelers niet van buitenlandse afkomst zullen zijn’.
De UEFA-richtlijn wil de clubs vanaf het seizoen 2008-2009 verplichten acht zelf-opeleide spelers in de selectie van 25 op te nemen om de kooplust van de topclubs te temperen.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Soccer Shorts.
29 September 2005
Irish Times
A round-up of today's other soccer stories in brief
EU may put foot down
A Uefa rule obliging clubs to include "home-grown" players in their squads will most likely fall foul of EU laws on discrimination, a report for the European Parliament concluded yesterday.
The rule will affect Europe's top clubs from next season. Although the quotas refer to where a player has been trained rather than his nationality, the study argued they would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
"It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners," said the report. "The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate (against) foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated."
It concluded the rule "will most likely not be able to be introduced under the current framework of EU law" and called for consultations across the sport to examine possible alternatives.
One of the key aims of the EU's single market is to remove barriers to the free flow of labour and goods across borders.
Uefa defines home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
The new rules, agreed last April, will apply only to clubs playing in Champions League and Uefa Cup matches but Uefa hopes the policy will be introduced at domestic level soon.
From the start of the 2006/2007 season clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man squads, the figure rising to six in 2007/2008 and eight in 2008/2009.
Several leading clubs have voiced opposition to the scheme.
----------------------------------------------------------------
UEFA homegrown quotas seen breaking EU law
28 September 2005
Reuters News
In STRASBOURG story headlined 'UPDATE 1-Soccer-UEFA homegrown quotas seen breaking EU law' the penultimate paragraph has been corrected to make clear that Chelsea were the first English team to field an entire team of overseas players.
STRASBOURG, France, Sept 28 (Reuters) - A UEFA rule obliging clubs to include 'home-grown' players in their squads will most likely fall foul of EU laws on discrimination, a report for the European Parliament concluded on Wednesday.
The rule will affect Europe's top clubs from next season. Although the quotas refer to where a player has been trained rather than his nationality, the study argued they would indirectly discriminate against foreign nationals.
"It is quite obvious that most of the home-grown players would be nationals of the specific state and not foreigners," said the report.
"The proposed rule would indirectly discriminate (against) foreigners, making it more difficult for foreign players to transfer to a country where they were not trained and educated."
It concluded the rule "will most likely not be able to be introduced under the current framework of EU law" and called for consultations across the sport to examine possible alternatives.
One of the key aims of the EU's single market is to remove barriers to the free flow of labour and goods across borders.
UEFA defines home-grown players as those trained by their clubs or by another club or national academy in the same country for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21.
A spokesman for UEFA said the organisation was studying Wednesday's report.
NEW RULES
The new rules, agreed in April, will apply only to clubs playing in Champions League and UEFA Cup matches but UEFA hopes the policy will be introduced at domestic level soon.
From the start of the 2006-07 season clubs must include four home-grown players in their 25-man squads with the figure rising to six in 2007-08 and eight in 2008-09.
Several leading clubs have voiced their opposition to the scheme.
Premier League club Chelsea set a landmark in English football in December 1999 by fielding an entire team of foreign players in a match at Southampton.
The study was authored by Dutch legal institute T.M.C. Asser, Britain's Lancaster University and Dutch sports consultancy Sport2B.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Voetbal: EU-regels dwarsbomen UEFA-plannen
28 September 2005
ANP Multimedia
STRAATSBURG (ANP) - De wens van de Europese voetbalbond UEFA om deelnemers aan de Champions League en de UEFA-beker te verplichten tenminste zes zelf-opgeleide spelers in de selectie te hebben, krijgt waarschijnlijk niet de goedkeuring van de Europese Unie.
Uit een in opdracht van het Europees Parlement uitgevoerde studie viel woensdag op te maken dat de regel, die in 2006 zou worden ingevoerd, in strijd is met het vrij verkeer van werknemers tussen de lidstaten.
Met de maatregel wil de UEFA onder andere het ongelimiteerd aantrekken van buitenlandse spelers een halt toeroepen. Hoewel de verplichting niets zegt over de nationaliteit van spelers, hebben de onderzoekers geconcludeerd dat er sprake is van discriminatie.
,,Het is duidelijk dat de meeste door een club opgeleide spelers uit het land komen waar de club is gehuisvest en het maakt het moeilijker voor buitenlandse spelers werk te vinden in een land waar ze niet zijn opgeleid'', meldt het eindrapport met als slotconclusie dat het niet waarschijnlijk is dat de regel binnen de EU-wetten kan worden ingevoerd.
----------------------------------------------------------------
UE/Football - Un rapport épingle les quotas prévus par l'UEFA
28 September 2005
Reuters - Les actualités en français
STRASBOURG, 28 septembre (Reuters) - Les quotas que prévoit d'imposer l'UEFA pour contraindre les clubs de football européens à aligner un certain nombre de joueurs formés dans le pays risquent de violer les règles de l'Union européenne destinées à lutter contre la discrimination.
Telle est la conclusion d'un rapport commandé par le parlement européen et dévoilé mercredi.
Les quotas de l'UEFA, dont le principe a été adopté par l'instance dirgeante en avril, doivent entrer en vigueur l'an prochain. Ils imposent aux clubs évoluant en Ligue des champions et en Coupe de l'UEFA de compter dans leurs rangs un certain nombre de joueurs formés par le club ou bien par un club ou un centre de formation du même pays.
Sur un effectif de 25 joueurs, chaque club devra compter quatre joueurs formés sur place à partir de la saison 2006-2007. Ce chiffre doit passer à six joueurs pour la saison 2007-2008 puis à huit la saison suivante.
Imposer à un club d'aligner un nombre minimum de joueurs formés sur place revient indirectement à favoriser les joueurs nationaux au détriment des joueurs étrangers, conclut le rapport.
Ces quotas représenteraient donc une entrave au principe de la libre circulation des personnes et des biens au sein de l'Union européenne, toujours selon les conclusions du rapport. /VIG