Blatter worried Premier League is damaging foreign leagues
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Blatter worried Premier League is damaging foreign leagues
• 'It is taking over, other leagues have difficulties to match it'
• 'England are ready for 2018 World Cup, but they are not alone'
The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, is worried other countries' leagues are suffering in the shadow of the popular Premier League. Photograph: Lefty Shivambu/Getty Images
Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, claims that the increasing global popularity of the Premier League is damaging the appeal of football in other countries.
Blatter, who also criticised the lack of competition within the English top flight and reiterated his desire to limit the number of foreign players plying their trade in the Premier League, said that other leagues were having "difficulties to match it".
"I have my concerns because the Premier League is the strongest in the world, definitely," Blatter told BBC Radio 5 Live. "It is taking over in such a manner that the other leagues have difficulties to match it."
"In a competition where two-thirds or three-quarters of the participants in the league play not to be first, but not to be relegated, there is something wrong," he said.
Blatter added that he would meet the chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, to discuss his continued intention to impose a minimum quota of English players.
"I want to try to, if not persuade him then at least influence him in his thoughts that to have a minimum of local players will enhance the quality of his league," Blatter said.
The Fifa president, who turns 73 on Tuesday, also voiced concerns over the increasing foreign ownership of English clubs, which he described as a "risk" and warned that there were no guarantees that England's plans to bid for the 2018 World Cup would be successful. "What is the advantage of England?" he said. "If you look at the technical infrastructure for stadiums and the organisation of football matches on the level of 50,000 people and upwards then they are ready to organise it, but they are not the only ones."