FIFA president Sepp Batter said today that England’s failure to reach Euro 2008 was partly due to Premier League clubs helping overseas players reach the peak of their game and benefiting their own countries.
Blatter, in an interview with Reuters at the University of Zurich, said: “Football is unpredictable and sometimes without any logic but it is a fact that in the strongest English teams the best players are not always English.
“So where are the best English players coming from? They are coming from the less strong teams, which is weakening the English national team. What is happening in England is that the best teams are preparing the national team players for England’s opponents.
“The Premier League has benefited the other countries taking part in the European championships, but not England.”
England failed to reach the finals, which start on Saturday, after finishing behind Croatia and Russia in their qualifying group following a 3-2 home defeat by Croatia last November.
Blatter was speaking after delivering a keynote speech launching a two-day soccer forum at the University of Zurich before leaving for Brussels.
He visited the headquarters of the European Union and met Hans-Gert Poettering, the president of the European Parliament, as part of his bid to convince EU lawmakers to approve his controversial “6+5” quota rule.
Afterwards, Blatter said he was determined to continue his diplomatic efforts.
“I am very happy that this has been accepted that the dialogue goes on, as long as we discuss, there is always a way to find possible solutions,” he told Reuters TV.
The 6+5rule would make it mandatory for clubs to start a match with six players eligible to play for their national team and only five foreign players.
Blatter was given a mandate at last week’s FIFA Congress in Sydney to continue exploring ways of having the rule implemented.
He said he believed he was near to finding a solution to the plan that has been opposed by European soccer’s governing body UEFA and its president Michel Platini.
The EU parliament has backed UEFA’s “home-grown” rule which sets a quota for locally trained players but with no restrictions on their nationality.
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