FIFA's Blatter vows to fight on

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter vowed this week to fight on for a "six plus five" system to stop clubs fielding so many foreign players, while his counterpart at UEFA Lennart Johansson urged the EU to let football govern itself.

Blatter wants clubs to be forced to play a minimum of six players eligible to represent the national team of the relevant country, with a maximum of five foreign players making up the numbers.

Johansson and Bayern Munich chief Franz Beckenbauer, joining Blatter at a conference in Munich, expressed doubts over the practicalities but Blatter said he would continue to press the issue and urged others to join him in the fight.

"The right solution is six plus five but it is difficult to implement," Blatter recognised. "We need time and patience and we have to be tough. I'm not going to give up."

UEFA had a similar system until 1995 when the Bosman ruling demolished restrictions on the number of foreign players clubs could have. Now, rules regarding freedom of movement within the EU would make such a limit impossible in Europe's big leagues.

Beckenbauer, who is preparing a bid to replace Johansson when he steps down as UEFA boss, probably in 2007, said a change was needed but was doubtful about putting Blatter's plan into practice.

"The solution would be ideal but we don't live on an island," Beckenbauer said. "We're part of Europe."

Johansson asked the EU to treat football as a separate case.

""Everyone in the game was happy with the old system," he said. "Then, because of a mistake by the Belgian FA we had the Bosman case that formed the situation today.

"For me, the only solution is to argue and discuss and try to get Brussels and the nations to accept the specificity of sport."