LONDON (AFP) - The English Premier League's controversial plan to host matches abroad is both a response to globalisation and a deliberate attempt at cementing its worldwide dominance, its chief executive said.

Richard Scudamore insisted the league enjoyed such huge global interest that it had to respond and act before another sport or rival football league such as those in Italy or Spain jumped in first.

But whether the Premier League can make a credible package out of its idea remains to be seen.

Scudamore admitted the proposal needed a lot of fleshing out. However, he insisted the league could not afford to stand still.

"This is a huge strategic move, as big as we have made since the league started," he said.

"We know what has made us strong. It starts with fan bases and the roots of the clubs. But sport has become a very globalised business.

"We've done this because we are, by design, a global phenomenon. We cannot go on manifesting that interest by just being a broadcast proposition in some of those countries," he explained.

But Scudamore admitted keeping the Premier League at the top of the pecking order was what forced the clubs to consider the radical step.

"It's a competitively defensive measure. If we don't do it, somebody else will," he conceded.

"We are the pre-eminent league in the world, playing in the world's most popular sport. We are therefore in a great position to do this."

Starting in the 2010/2011 season, the plan would see all of the 20 Premier League clubs play a international round in January.

The 10 matches would be played in five cities, each hosting one game on Saturday and another on Sunday. Clubs would have no mid-week fixtures before or after the international weekend.

The league has no intention of going beyond a 39-game season and playing further matches abroad, and the fixture calendar would most probably rule out such an idea.

The games would count towards the final Premier League table.

The Premier League clubs will meet again in June after the end of the season, with a final decision on whether to proceed due by January 2009.

No host cities have been identified, Scudamore stressed.

However, the fact that top flight clubs now play extensive pre-season tours in the United States, Asia, the Gulf, South Africa and Australia indicates where the interest -- and the money -- lies.

Scudamore suggested the plan could also boost domestic excitement, with fans in England being able to watch every top flight team over a weekend from Saturday morning to Sunday night.

"We have been inundated in the last five years, and certainly in the last 18 months, with a whole host of proposals," Scudamore explained.

"It reached a crescendo around the NFL (National Football League) coming to Wembley, sparking a whole debate about what the Premier League is going to do.

"All the proposals we have had looked a little contrived and one-off."

One of the problems facing the league is that of how the teams would be paired up.

For example, there is no plan to prevent, say, a title-chasing team from playing a relegation favourite, while two championship rivals face each other.

"Everybody knows what the rules are going to be. Everyone has an equal chance of being treated unfairly," was as reassuring as it got from Scudamore, underlining the challenge ahead to make the project viable.