Scudamore Blasts Blatter Quota Plans

Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, has blasted FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s plans to impose voluntary quotas on overseas players in national leagues.

Speaking in a media interview, Scudamore stated that any attempt to impose such quotas on clubs will fail and would not aid the national team anyway.

He stated: ‘You can get yourself into difficult jingoistic, nationalistic, almost racist debates about who can and cannot play for your country. If the law of the land says you are nationally qualified, then you are nationally qualified, no matter what Mr Blatter says.’

Scudamore was speaking in reaction to Blatter’s accusation against the Premier League of hindering England’s international prospects.

The FIFA president had claimed the Premier League’s financial success came at the expense of the national team, largely because English youngsters were being deprived of opportunities in the increasingly cosmopolitan top flight.

Scudamore commented: ‘Our responsibility is to put on the best possible show, with the best possible talent on the field and played in the best possible stadia.

‘That is our virtuous circle and from that all else flows. In our view, that sits very comfortably alongside what the England team are trying to achieve.

‘We believe that our league has the best players in the world and English players benefit from competing in this environment. Our virtuous circle is capable of producing the 30-40 players that England teams have historically been picked from.

‘Nobody is more disappointed about missing out on Euro 2008 than me, but if you look at the first team, we think that player for player they are good enough. And we are producing a sufficient number of players for England.’