Interview: FIFA to convince Commission on national quotas[fr][de] 

"Support for '6+5' has been growing continuously," said the director of international relations at the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), Jérôme Champagne.

Both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and several international teamsports' federations have, according to Champagne, already given their backing to the proposed rule and are considering intoducing a similar rule to other sports. In addition, FIFA has received the backing of "several sports ministers of EU countries," he claimed.

Asked why the introduction of national quotas on football teams is necessary, Champagne said the rule could solve a number of the problems that football is currently facing. These include unbalanced competitions at national and international club level and the ever-increasing gap between the top and bottom clubs in all competitions as wealth becomes more concentrated among the top clubs, "which buy all of the top players in the market".  

In addition, the "choice of players for the national team is reduced" as less and less national players play regularly at their clubs, he said, adding that players changing clubs and countries triggers "a loss of the national identity of clubs" and makes it "difficult for fans to feel identified with their club and players".

According to Champagne, accusations that the '6+5' rule contravences EU law on the freedom of movement of workers within the EU are unfounded. He explains that the movement of players in the main European football leagues is currently over 40% on average, compared to an average for all workers within the EU of below 10%. 

He also underlined that "the specific nature of sport and football in particular" must be recognised as stated in the Lisbon Treaty. The EU provides for "cultural exception" with European cinema quotas, he noted, asking for the specific nature of sport to be recognised and the principle of "sporting exception" to be applied in the EU.

FIFA also argues that the rule would restore equal chances of success to all those competing in football. "Currently, in football, we see a monopolisation of resources and wealth by some clubs which dominate all competitions, directly influencing the predictability of the sports results," he said, referring to EU anti-monopoly legislation, which aims to prevent the concentration of wealth in any given sector.

Finally, the rule "only refers to the number of players eligible to play for the national team of the country where the club is based at the start of the match," noted Champagne. FIFA is not proposing to restrict the number of non-eligible players that a club could have under contract. 

FIFA could receive some support in the coming months from the current French EU Presidency, which has expressed its strong support for the specific nature of sport (see EurActiv 14/07/08). Indeed French Sports Minister Bernard Laporte has asked the EU "to look into the possibility" of applying the FIFA proposal, according to Champagne. 

To read the interview in full, please click here.