The limit on foreign players in the Premier League is a frequently discussed topic at meetings of sports analysts, officials and just football fans. As a rule, this topic is raised after the unsuccessful performance of the country's football team at international tournaments. This time was no exception. As soon as our team did not leave the group at the Confederations Cup, which was held in Russia, everyone again began to discuss the limit on foreign players in the Premier League.
Why do foreigners get
The limit on foreign players in the Premier League appeared back in 2005. From that moment, the Premier League football clubs began to rely on foreign players, and not to educate their own. It has become easier for them to spend a decent amount of money on an experienced and technical player who will start to bring results in the first year. The young player needs to be gradually included in the composition. At first, he will probably make mistakes that may affect the result. But over time, he must get comfortable in the Premier League and join the ranks of the national team. However, the leadership of Russian clubs is not interested. Management requires immediate results from coaches, especially when it comes to teams that compete in European competitions. And at a high level, good results can only be achieved with experienced players.
The appearance of the first limit on foreigners
According to the first limit on foreign players in the Premier League, there should be no more than five foreigners on the field during the game. This project, as conceived by the league leadership, was supposed to fulfill the following tasks:
Improving conditions in club academies and developing their students.
Improving the skill of the players of the national team.
Ridding the Premier League of low-level legionnaires.
The idea to limit the number of foreigners in the Russian championship was undoubtedly successful. But then there was one amendment that reduced the benefits of the restriction. According to her, if a football player played for his team more than 10 times, then he was not equated to the legionnaires. This amendment was canceled the next year. In 2006, the number of foreign players on the field was increased to 7 people. What is the current limit on foreign players in the Premier League? Beginning football fans are regularly interested in this. The current limit assumes that no more than 6 foreigners can be on the field at a time.
Emerging issues
When the limit on foreign players in the Premier League was introduced, all sports specialists and fans thought that such a decision would positively affect the performance of our team in international tournaments. However, the Russian team has been sliding down the FIFA rating for a long time. After the restriction on foreign players, our league faced the following problems. Popular domestic players received huge salaries. Previously, payouts in foreign leagues were significantly higher than for players playing in Russia. Now the leaders of the Russian top clubs receive as much as the popular players of the leading leagues in the world. For example, Dmitry Kokorin’s salary is 3.3 million euros per year. And the income of Dmitry Tarasov is 2.4 million euros per year. Such money is unlikely for our players to pay abroad. The players lost the motivation to get better. They will receive money in their bank account.
The difference in budget between clubs
Teams playing in the Premier League have a completely different budget. Rich clubs can afford to buy a young and vibrant domestic player with a Russian passport and put him on the bench. One of the richest clubs in the Russian Premier League in St. Petersburg, “Zenith” in the last season has acquired from competitors a large number of bright young players. It is extremely difficult for them to break into the foundation. Therefore, they spend most of the season on the bench. Young players do not receive game practice, therefore they do not develop.
What are the positive points?
Despite all the disadvantages that appeared after the introduction of the limit on foreigners, the idea still had a positive effect on the development of children in clubs. Some teams seriously took up their students. Such Russian clubs as Krasnodar and CSKA are especially indicative of this. The army school has recently been strengthening the national team with its students. Alexander Golovin, Konstantin Bazelyuk and Fedor Chalov are already real stars of Russian football and will soon, without a doubt, become real leaders of the national team. It is worth noting that some talented players took Russian citizenship, which immediately removed their status as a legionnaire. Football players such as Micon, Guillerme and Mario Fernandez now have Russian citizenship and can strengthen our team at the home world championships.
What should be the limit?
For a long time, many clubs and sports experts have declared the futility of the existing limit. A league leadership meeting regularly discusses its inefficiency. Increasingly, there is an opinion that in order to strengthen our championship and the national team, the limit should be increased to “10 + 15”. That is, for the season clubs will be able to declare up to 10 foreigners. The leadership of the league is not against such changes and it is possible that the innovations will officially take effect after the World Cup. It is not yet specified how many foreigners can be on the field during the game, but it is already becoming clear that this number is more than 6 people. What is the limit on foreign players in the Premier League should be, while clearly unclear. Some officials, on the contrary, demand a decrease in the number of foreign players in the Russian Premier League. In addition, the leader of the LDPR faction Vladimir Zhirinovsky demands to reduce the salary of domestic players.
The history of the limit on foreign players in the Premier League shows that while the league leadership has not found the best option. It is not yet clear whether it is necessary to increase it or, conversely, to reduce it. To understand which option is most optimal, you can only try in practice.