Dein cautious on 'six-plus-five' rule

Ex-Arsenal vice-chairman says scheme could be a non-starter

By James Pearson   Last updated: 1st June 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Dein cautious on 'six-plus-five' rule

Dein: Urges caution

Sepp Blatter and his colleagues have a lot of work to do to get this through.

Dein on Fifa's Six-plus-Five scheme
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Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein believes Fifa have a lot of work ahead of them to push through their new 'six-plus-five' scheme.

The new Fifa initiative is designed to encourage countries to blood more home grown talent by restricting the number of foreigners allowed to play in domestic fixtures.

With the scheme having been positively greeted throughout Europe, but Dein believes restricting the freedom of movement of professional footballers could be a tough hurdle to jump.

Contentious

"This is probably the most contentious issue to hit English football since the Premier League (was set up) in 1992," he told Sportsweek.

"It's a hot potato and in my view it's not going to get any cooler. I think Sepp Blatter is on a mission to try and push this rule through.

"As it stands at the moment, it cuts right across article 39 of the EC treaty which covers the freedom of movement of professional footballers in the UK.

"Sepp Blatter and his colleagues have a lot of work to do to get this through."

Unfair

Many feel the likes of Arsenal will immediately struggle should the ruling come into place as Arsene Wenger has often blooded foreign youngsters ahead of English talent.

However, Dein feels it is unfair to solely point the finger at The Gunners, stating a number of Premier League sides depend heavily on the foreign markets.

"It is unfair to isolate Arsenal," he said. "Look at Bolton and Fulham, who have got more than 60 per cent of their players from overseas.

"Arsene Wenger always said he looks at the quality of the player and not the passport."