EU assembly rejects Blatter's quota

The European Parliament dealt another blow to FIFA president Sepp Blatter's controversial plans to curb the number of foreigners at soccer clubs by voting against the proposals yesterday.

EU lawmakers rejected Blatter's "6+5 rule", allowing no more than five foreign players to start a match, by 518 votes to 49 but most backed the "home-grown player rule" of UEFA.

"The parliament calls on the members and sports bodies not to introduce new rules that create direct discrimination based on nationality, such as FIFA's 6+5," the resolution said.

"It calls on the Commission to recognise the legality of measures favouring the promotion of players coming through training schemes, such as a minimum number of locally-trained players."