Former Gunner David Bentley
Arsène Wenger has voiced his
opposition to Sepp Blatters plan to impose a quota system on
football in Europe.
Once again the FIFA president has talked publicly about restricting
every starting XI to just five foreign players in a bid to develop
indigenous talent. It is not certain whether EU law would permit
such a ruling but the issue dominated the Arsenal managers
pre-match press conference on Friday. Wenger would be hit more than
anyone by this idea. He has named 11 starting line-ups in the
Premier League and Champions League this season, only three have
included an Englishman. Naturally he was opposed.
I would not be very happy [if it happened] because I feel sport is
linked with quality, he said. Our purpose is to push the level of
the game as high as we can to give people entertainment. If one day
you say 'sorry, you cannot play. I know you are better but you are
not from the right place', then I would not be happy.
Let's not be hypocrites. You [in England] have the biggest
economical power, and that means you attract the best players in
the world. The best players in the world make what? The best
Premier League in the world. But who can pay the consequences of
it? Maybe its the English national team. However that is the
rules.
Look at Brazil. They are the reverse of England. They do not have
enough economical power, so all the players go abroad. But they all
go back for the national team so it does not pay any price for it
at all because the players play in the best leagues.
For me this [ruling] will protect the bad players, or those who
are not good enough. But if the best English players play with the
best world class players, then they will be even better and develop
quicker.
There is the principle of a child who is very gifted - if you put
him in a bad class, he goes down; you put him in a good class and
he goes up. In football it is just the same.
What do u think of the new rules set by Blatter?
