Soccer Investor Limited, the world’s leading football business research and publishing company, will publish a report on the sporting, economic and legal arguments for and against a foreign player quota such as the “6+5” rule proposed by FIFA. The research has been supported by Freddie Huxtable, Head of Vantis' Sports Group and has been carried out with the co-operation of the University of Bournemouth. Preliminary findings of the research were presented by Soccer Investor publisher Brian Sturgess to leading decision makers in football at the World’s First Football Congress in Istanbul on 2 September. The Congress was organized jointly between Turkish sports marketing company Rekya and Soccer Investor.
In a speech entitled “Player Quotas: The Good, The Bad and The Illegal,” Brian Sturgess summarized the findings of the report. Looking at data covering the thirty year period 1977-07, and taking especial note of the years from the foundation of the Premier League, the research found no evidence on the basis of official international match results that the proportion of non-English players in the top flight of English football has had any significant impact on the performance of the senior men’s England national team. This is contrary to the popular view that has frequently been expressed by politicians and by some of the leading figures running world football. Recent comments have suggested that the Premier League’s appetite for foreign players is “crowding-out” the development of domestic talent and is consequently shrinking the pool of potential England players available for selection. In a report entitled Meltdown published at the end of last year, the English players’ union – the Professional Footballers Association wrote: "The bottom line is a very simple one. Older, ready-made foreign players are blocking young English players' path into the Premier League."
There is an alternative view. Many countries complain of the loss of young or developing talent from their national leagues to those clubs with the greater economic power. The report found, that when the performance of the national team is measured by FIFA Coca-Cola rankings, there was evidence indicating a significant positive correlation between the average position of the England team relative to rival countries and the proportion of foreign players playing in the Premier League. This implies that had it not been for the opening-up effects of the 1995 “Bosman” court decision on European player markets and the economic pulling power of the Premier League, the performance of the England team could have been worse than it was. Indeed, given the nature of football as a joint team product, there are strong theoretical as well as practical reasons why allowing those English born players opportunity to play with and against some of the world’s talent foreign players, would help hone their skills. Professor Chris Brady Dean of the Business School at the University of Bournemouth commented: "I am intuitively against quotas but I also think they are irrelevant to performance. In 1994 and 1995 the England team had `win ratios' of 25% and 38% respectively with English representation in the Premier League of 70% and 68% respectively. In 2005 and 2006 the figures were - `win ratios' of 73% and 71% with representations of 39% and 37%. Lies, damn lies and statistics."
The report does not argue against football player quota per se only against a blanket imposition of a fixed maximum number of non-national players across the world. Quotas of any product or service restrict choice and supply and raise costs and are only optimal in particular circumstances such as the need to protect an ‘emerging industry.’ Quotas on the number of non-domestic players may be necessary in some countries such as many of those in Asia or Africa with developing football markets, but this should be a question for the local national football federation and not for FIFA. It would be hard to argue that England, the recognized cradle of the game of football is an emerging football market requiring protection.
The reasons for the reduced supply of English talent lie elsewhere and cannot be blamed on the number of foreign players in the Premier League. The attraction of the Premier League to Europe’s and increasingly the world’s top talent is a model of success to be emulated and not hindered. The report concludes that applying a fixed quota of foreign players would not only potentially harm the income and sporting success of many of Europe’s top leagues, but within the territory of the European Union, such a quota would be illegal.
Freddie Huxtable, Head of Vantis’ Sports Group said: “Most commentators agree that the premiership is the best league in the world. It is that unique blend of English and foreign national players that raise the quality of play and give it international pre-eminence. It would seem that English football needs to be reviewed at the grass roots of the game to enable young national talent to be captured, nurtured and coached to a high standard under a structured programme from an early age. Only then can we produce quality players in greater numbers.”
A summary of the report will be available on 15 September and can be received free by emailing a request to admin@soccerinvestor.com or use the online form below. The full report can be bought at £35 per copy again by emailing a request to Soccer Investor.
For more information, please contact Freddie Huxtable or complete the online contact form below.