FA Quotas Have Unintended Consequences

England's performance during the last World Cup was a great disappointment to the Football Association and it is understandable that they may want to change the situation. Predictably, they have gone for the most obvious excuse which states that young English players are denied a chance to improve by virtue of the large number of foreign players in that English Premier League. In an earlier blog post here, I suggested that this view is convenient but is ill-informed and suggested that the FA bosses should look at this book. In spite of that, the FA introduced a new rule that limits each team in the premier league to a squad of 25 players of which places an upper limit of 17 players that are not home grown. the ostensible reason is that the number of English players in the squads is bound to go up and thereby improve the performance of the English team in international tournaments.

It is difficult to argue with such a knee-jerk reaction especially since it resonates with a number of English supporters and players. And yet as Arsene Wenger reasons, it is bound to generate unintended consequences in the form of court cases especially when considered together with other rules.From that explanation, it seems that the FA did not carefully consider the adverse consequences of that rule and how players and managers may adapt to its imposition. The quota rule already looks like a bad idea even before it is in operation for a full season.