Uefa and Fifa ready to limit foreign players

New plans to limit the number of foreign players in domestic leagues are being drawn up by Fifa and Uefa, the world and European governing bodies respectively. Sepp Blatter, Fifa's president, has instructed his Player Status Committee, which meets next week, to look at the possibility of ruling that at least six of the 11 players in any starting line-up be eligible for the national side of the league they are playing in.

Uefa has already held preliminary talks with the European Commission about a plan whereby clubs would have to include a minimum quota of players in their squads – of any nationality – who have come through their youth systems.

The schemes are likely to face legal challenges from major clubs – Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool foremost among them in England – who often field a majority of foreign imports at present. But Fifa and Uefa believe their initiatives might be viewed positively by the EC, which granted special employment status to footballers in June to enable the introduction of the new international transfer system.

If either of the fledgling plans come to fruition, several clubs in the Premiership would be forced to make sweeping changes to their sides. Chelsea, who, on 26 December 1999, were the first club to field a team comprised solely of foreigners, would be among the hardest hit. As recently as last Saturday, Claudio Ranieri fielded a starting line-up with only one British player: Graeme Le Saux. Last weekend's Premiership programme also saw Liverpool start with nine foreign players and Arsenal with eight.

"One idea is that six players on a team should at all times be eligible for the national team, in order to protect the young players in all countries," said Markus Siegler, Fifa's communications director.

A Uefa spokesman said yesterday that the EC would be highly unlikely to make any ruling based on nationality because it would be challenged in court. "We have [instead] suggested an idea where a certain number of players developed through a club's youth system must be part of their first-team squad," he said. "We have taken the lead in this and have had initial discussions with the EC about this."

A spokesman for the Premier League added: "We have to protect the domestic football structure and we would support a system that would ensure a proper balance."

There are currently no limits to the number of foreigners, whether from European countries or not, in British football. The only restrictions are that non-EU players fulfil the work permit criteria of having played in 75 per cent of international matches in a specified time period for a country ranked within the top 70 in world football.

* The Fifa president Sepp Blatter yesterday confirmed his intention to stand down from the role in 2006, by which time he will be 70.