Fifa president Sepp Blatter says he is prepared to challenge the European Union to impose a quota on foreign players within European teams.
Blatter wants clubs to be restricted to playing a maximum of five non-nationals in their starting XIs to encourage the development of homegrown players.
Imposing such a quota would contravene EU employment laws but Blatter said that an footballers should be exempt from the current employment laws.
“Football has never had the courage to go against this practice,” Blatter told the BBC.
“When you have 11 foreigners in a team, this is not good for the development of football, for the education of young players, and there is a financial aspect, too.
“Workers in Europe can circulate freely but footballers are not workers.
“You cannot consider a footballer like any normal worker because you need 11 to play a match – and they are more artists than workers.”
