Premier League chairman Sir David Richards has admitted the England team is being harmed by the number of foreign imports in the top flight.Richards' comments completely contradict the view of Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who insisted England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 had nothing to do with the recent influx of overseas stars.
Richards also wants to see the competition reduced from 20 to 18 teams to ease fixture congestion.
Speaking at the Third Dubai International Sports Conference, held in the United Arab Emirates principality at the end of May, Richards said in an recording obtained by the Guardian: "Does the Premier League hurt the national side? I think the answer to that has got to be yes.
"We've been a bit lazy in the Premier League over the years. We created a system of academies and every club spends about £3million a year developing young players. But it hasn't worked, because the availability for us to go out and buy the best stars is an easy thing.
"Anybody who comes into the league needs to stay in it, so needs to buy the best stars. We pick kids up at eight years old, we send them to the academy, then at 16 we make them a student, then at 18 we say they haven't made it."
Richards went further by admitting former England manager Steve McClaren lost his job last year because of the status quo.
"Steve will tell you that he has to have the best players available and the Premier League has hurt him," Richards said.
"In fact, I would probably go as far as to say the Premier League has probably cost him his job. Because what we've done, we've actually bought all these foreign players in."
Richards' revelations would appear to put him on a collision course with Scudamore, who has argued that there are enough England-qualified players - 34% of clubs' starting line-ups last season - for the national team to flourish.
Scudamore has rejected any measures to impose a quota on foreign players in the English game.
Richards revealed the Premier League was originally intended to be eventually reduced to an 18-club competition when it was formed in 1992.
He added: "The 20 shareholders said, 'No, we ain't voting to go down to 18'. So fixture congestion is a real problem."
Asked whether he now stood by his comments, Richards claimed what he had said was not quite what he meant.
The Premier League responded by saying: "These comments do not represent the collective view of the Premier League."
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Comment 1 - 6 of 6
I find it so funny that some English people are blaming the influx of foreigners, for England sucking at football when they suck at all sports on an international level, except darts. Seriously when England did not make the 1994 World Cup, that was just down to the team not being that great although back then they didnt have a xenophobic excuse to explain that as a sporting nation they really are weak. You cant tell me that the reason England sucks at cricket is because of the influx of foreigners into the county sides, its just because they're not as good as other nations.
Im sorry to be so negative but there is some truth in what I am saying, England as a sporting nation punches well below their weight.
Peace
I find it so funny that some English people are blaming the influx of foreigners, for England sucking at football when they suck at all sports on an international level, except darts. Seriously when England did not make the 1994 World Cup, that was just down to the team not being that great although back then they didnt have a xenophobic excuse to explain that as a sporting nation they really are weak. You cant tell me that the reason England sucks at cricket is because of the influx of foreigners into the county sides, its just because they're not as good as other nations.
Im sorry to be so negative but there is some truth in what I am saying, England as a sporting nation punches well below their weight.
Peace
There's a very good reason why the Premiership NEEDS the foreign players - money. The best foreign players are on average much better than the English players. They make the games more exciting as they have greater ability. The Premiership only keeps making money if they have great players - hence the foreigners. There's also a very clear trade off between having a decent league or a decent national team in England: Take away the foreign players and the premier league again falls behind Serie A and La Liga in terms of European success. However, doing this may give more home grown players the chance to come through. Personally, I still think the Premiership is a crude alternative to it's Italian and Spanish counterparts. The only reason it keeps ground is because of the insane amounts of money thrown at it.
There's a very good reason why the Premiership NEEDS the foreign players - money. The best foreign players are on average much better than the English players. They make the games more exciting as they have greater ability. The Premiership only keeps making money if they have great players - hence the foreigners. There's also a very clear trade off between having a decent league or a decent national team in England: Take away the foreign players and the premier league again falls behind Serie A and La Liga in terms of European success. However, doing this may give more home grown players the chance to come through. Personally, I still think the Premiership is a crude alternative to it's Italian and Spanish counterparts. The only reason it keeps ground is because of the insane amounts of money thrown at it.
i see it as a english league and should be english teams, english local lads playing for there teams. we dont need any of these money graping overseas show poneys. and the english national team should be managed by english manager. Also we should scrap the english team and make a great brittish team we would be unstopperble
This is total nonsense!
Where are all the great English players that have lost their jobs to the beastly foreigners? For example, what great English goalkeepers have been denied a place?
If we restrict the 'foreigners', then the overall standards of the EPL would drop - how can players benefit from this? Has Beckham's game improved by playing in a league with lower standards? Of course not!
If a young English player is any good, he will earn a place in a competitive, cosmopolitan league. EVERY EPL manager knows how popular skilled English youth are with the fans - don't blame 'foreigners' for the rubbish english team. Blame instead a culture where young lads prefer smoking weed and doing stuff on computers in their bedrooms - much easy to be a couch warrior!
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