Enlarge imageBy Mike Collett
TALLINN (Reuters) - Clubs taking part in European club competitions must include eight home-grown players in their 25-man squads by the start of the 2008-09 season following a landmark decision taken at UEFA’s annual congress on Thursday.
The new rule will come into force at the start of the 2006-07 season with four home-grown players in the squads for Champions League and UEFA Cup matches, rising to six in 2007-08 and eight the season after.
The ruling does not apply to domestic competitions, although UEFA is encouraging its members to adopt the rule in their own competitions too.
The home-grown rule was the major decision approved by UEFA’s 52 member nations, although the congress also agreed to defer the election for the next president of UEFA and other executive committee elections until 2007 to bring UEFA into line with FIFA and most of the other confederations.
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Meanwhile, both UEFA president Lennart Johansson and his FIFA counterpart Sepp Blatter, who addressed the congress, condemned the recent outbreaks of violence, corruption and continued racism in the sport.
"There are dark clouds threatening on the horizon," said Blatter, who added: "we must all live up to our social and educational responsibilities."
Johansson told reporters later that UEFA seriously condemned the latest outbreaks of violence in Italy and the Netherlands and said all UEFA members are aware of their responsibilities.
"They all know what they should be doing," he said. "We tell them over and over again."
MAIN ISSUE
The home-grown rule was designed at least partly to redress the balance in terms of clubs fielding locally developed players who they either trained themselves or were coached at another club within the same country.
The ruling has evolved over months of negotiation with the European Union, governments, politicians and all of football’s "stakeholders", the clubs, national associations, coaches and academies at grass-roots level.
The problem was to devise a system that did not conflict with the EU’s eligibility laws as there are no longer any restrictions on player movement in Europe.
So, a young player of any nationality can be developed between the ages of 15 and 21 for three years as a junior and be eligible as a home-grown player.
A six-point declaration adopted by congress laid out the fundamentals of the plan, which is effectively designed to also stop rich clubs "hoarding" players as well as just buying in success.
"The training and development of young players is of crucial importance to the future of football. Every football club in every national association should play a part in this process," the declaration says.
It also states that while UEFA recognises the part that finance plays in football today, the game "should not be a mere financial contest. It should above all be a sporting contest.
"This sporting element means that every club must accept some responsibility for training and not rely solely on acquiring those players who were trained by others."
MODEST START
Executive committee member Per Ravn Omdal, who presented the plan to the congress, said it was of fundamental importance to football’s future that home-grown players had more influence at their clubs.
"This is just a start," he told Reuters afterwards. "We have deliberately started it in a modest way so that clubs can keep step with the development of the scheme.
"I know there might be some pitfalls, that clubs might try and poach players even younger than they are now, but they do this anyway today although there are laws of the land which should be observed."
The announcement that the elections for the presidency of UEFA were being put back a year until 2007 has thrown the election campaign of Michel Platini into some disarray. Platini will now not campaign until this time next year at the earliest.
Johansson, 75, who has been UEFA president since 1990, said: "Perhaps he will become the next president, why not? But some executive members felt he has started his campaign too early.
"Franz Beckenbauer has also told me he is considering throwing his hat in the ring."
Intriguingly Johansson did not rule himself out of the race although he has hinted strongly in the past he would retire after his current term ends.
