FIFA president Sepp Blatter faces a tricky tactical decision over whether to push forward with his radical plan to restrict club teams to five foreign players.

Blatter has to deal with resistance from European federations concerned about the legality of the plan in European labour law.

The 'six plus five' proposal is on the agenda for today's congress in the Bahamas although a FIFA spokesman said it was not clear whether any vote would be held on a time-table for the plan.

UEFA president Michel Platini said it would be impossible to support a time-table at this stage.

"If there is a vote on the calendar then we abstain. To have a calendar we need to know if it is legal or illegal," he told reporters.

"It is not about FIFA or about football at all. It is about European Union law," he added, stressing that he backed the principle behind the proposal.

European federations met this week and said they would not back the plan, Belgian Football Association president François De Keersmaeker told reporters.

"If there is a vote then the European countries will abstain," De Keersmaeker said.

"There is support for the idea but it is not legal and we need to work with the European Commission and the EU to find a solution," he said.

The plan would have a dramatic impact on the top leagues in Europe, such as England's Premier League and Germany's Bundesliga, where there are record numbers of foreign players. Chelsea's starting line-up in their FA Cup final victory over Everton on Saturday featured just three English players.

Last year's FIFA Congress in Sydney voted 155-5 in favour of Blatter pursuing the plan, with 40 abstentions.

With Europeans unwilling to move forward at this stage, Blatter must decide whether to risk a division with UEFA over the issue.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.