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It's an issue that has been bubbling under the surface for a few years now, and has finally come to the forefront. Aman Toor from India has his say, and discusses the good that can come from this rule's implementation...

The following are the views of the author and not necessarily of Goal.com

The 6+5 rule does seem to be very appealing since it was announced by FIFA President Sepp Blatter. However different or unique it sounds, implementing the rule would create a major change in the football world. The rule established by the current FIFA president is a step towards improving the standard of homegrown footballers in nations like England, which has a large influx of foreign players. 

The English Premier league is considered to the most exciting in the world but the football played by the national team is not of the same standards as that of the likes of Manchester united or Chelsea etc. This can be well documented in the recently ongoing euro 2008 championships, in which the English are absent. Many other clubs in different leagues will also come under the knife of the 6+5 rule, such as Real Madrid, Ajax, Inter Milan, AC Milan etc. The difference between the other European leagues like Dutch league, Spanish La Liga or the Serie A and the EPL is that the others have the problem of foreign players but the lesser sides in the upper division and the teams in the lower divisions have many home grown players which in someway balances the effect. In case of the teams in the Premier League and in the Championship, most of the teams have more foreign players rather than home grown talent.

If we take a look at the transfer speculation for the various big clubs, one can notice that everyone is gunning for foreign talent. Not only that, players who are at the tender age of 15 or 16 are also being bought from other countries. These clubs need to take the example of Uefa Cup Champions Zenit St Petersburg. Their team does not have any big name foreign players but is filled with home grown, talented players, and this has in turn helped the national side, as can be seen in the recently concluded Euro Championships.  

Yes, this might have a slight negative effect on the standard of some of the big leagues but the standard of international football would definitely go up a few notches. Also, the rule will also give many players greater opportunities to play for their national side. So, according to me the rule should be implemented for the good of the game we call football. 

Aman Toor

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