Call to limit foreign footballers

Foreign legion: Ginola of Spurs and Stam of Manchester United

Moves to limit the number of foreign footballers playing in the UK should be supported by the government, a committee of MPs has recommended.

The report from the all-party education and employment committee comes amid concern that home-grown talent is being held back because of the increasing number of foreign stars.

Within Europe there is free movement of all labour - whether it is footballers, construction workers or students

Margaret Hodge

The MPs want ministers to back proposals to change a European law that allows players to move freely inside Europe.

And they say even if the 1995 Bosman ruling is not changed, a quota system should be introduced to restrict the number of players from outside Europe.

But the government said it did not "anticipate" any change in European law.

"Within Europe there is free movement of all labour - whether it is footballers, construction workers or students," said Education Minister Margaret Hodge.

And she said football authorities would decide whether a quota system should be introduced.

'Detrimental effect'

The MPs said the increase in the number of overseas players had been "beneficial" to British football.

But the report recognised concerns that the number of foreigners, who dominate some clubs such as Chelsea, was having a "detrimental effect" on home-grown talent.

Committee chairman Derek Foster said that negotiations for a quota system were already taking place within the European Union.

Government 'half hearted'

"An EU commissioner is involved and the football associations are also involved," he said.

"We want our government to throw their weight entirely behind these negotiations, at the moment they seem to be rather half hearted."

Gordon Taylor, of the Professional Footballers' Association, told MPs that television money meant the UK was now "one of the highest economies in football terms in the world".

"It is a honeypot to which football bees are gravitating," he said.

On the first weekend of the 1999/2000 season, 82 of 220 players (37%) starting Premier League matches came from outside the UK.

Scotland's team manager Craig Brown has also backed the calls for a quota system.

He told the BBC that quotas would be "excellent" for developing national squads, saying that the number of foreign players acted as "a major disincentive for young players."

Quality standards

The Bosman ruling means players from the European Economic Area - the 15 EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein - do not need permission to play in the UK.

Players from outside the EEA must meet quality standards set by the government's Overseas Labour Service to obtain work permits.

Players must come from a country ranked in the top 70 soccer nations by Fifa and have played in 75% of their national side's matches.

The English Premier League currently restricts the number of work permit players to three per club per match, but most players come from inside Europe.

The committee recommended a quota of two work permit players per club in the Premiership and one in the First Division.