Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger and others have railed against FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s proposal to introduce a foreign player quota. A few weeks ago, the FIFA President floated the idea, claiming that a foreign player quota would encourage greater competition in the world’s biggest leagues, which are often dominated by a handful of clubs.
Wenger of course is famous for fielding teams consisting of almost all non-English players — his teams are often full of French and French-speaking Africans. “Do you really think that if I regularly started with five average English players, England would win the World Cup?” scoffed Wenger, “almost chuckling with incredulity,” says the Guardian’s Paul Doyle. Wenger says that improving a country’s international performances comes down to “earlier and better coaching,” not regulation. “Blatter’s trying to protect the World Cup, I’m trying to protect the quality of the game – they’re not the same thing,” he said. Doyle says that Wenger could afford to be cavalier in his comments against Blatter’s proposal because it has almost no chance of passing.