Ferwafa to stick with Fifa’s quota plan

Local football governing body, Ferwafa is waiting for Fifa’s approval in embracing their plan of restricting foreigners on club squads ahead of next season’s national football league. Ferwafa president Brig. Gen. John Bosco Kazura told Times Sport yesterday that once Fifa confirms the ‘six-plus-five’ principle, to African countries, Rwanda inclusive, then it should take effect with the start of next season. “Once the rule is made official to African Fifa member states before the start of next season, then local clubs will have to adhere to the rule. “This would go all away in helping us to groom our own local players because the current rules, means many of them don’t get enough chances to develop their potentials in their respective different clubs,” Kazura said. Kazura further recommended the need of foreign players in local league because foreign talent has aided the technical development of the Rwandan game. FIFA plan aims to force clubs to start a match with at least six homegrown players and limit the number of foreigners to five by 2011. The plan which was endorsed by Fifa president Sepp Blatter in June is set to start working in Europe. Blatter wants to restrict the number of foreign players in teams by the start in the 2010/11 season, with a minimum of four home-grown players and he expects it to grow to six, with a maximum of five foreigners, by 2012/13. In contrast, the “home-grown players” rule, which is set to be expanded in Europe’s upcoming seasons, means that four players in the Champions League or Uefa Cup squad must have been developed by the club, with another four having been produced by clubs from the same federation. Blatter wants to bring in the proposal by 2012/2013 but the European Commission declared it discriminatory and illegal. The European Commission believes a quota on foreign footballers would be incompatible with European Union law which allows workers to move freely between member countries. Ends

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Ferwafa to stick with Fifa’s quota plan