Blatter calls England's Capello hiring breach of principle

LONDON: FIFA president Sepp Blatter criticized England's decision to hire a foreign coach on Monday, the day Fabio Capello arrived at FA headquarters for his first day of work.

Capello succeeded Steve McClaren following England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008. The FIFA president claimed the FA had "broken a principle of international football" by not choosing an Englishman.

Blatter told BBC Sport: "I have never seen Italy, Germany, Brazil or Argentina with a coach from another country. In fact, most of the best teams have a coach from their own country.

"I would say it is a little surprising that the motherland of football has ignored a sacrosanct law or belief that the national team manager should be from the same country as the players."

Blatter said it was now "high noon" for English football after the failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals and insists the domestic football authorities need to address the issue of overseas players in the game.

He added: "When you talk about being a football nation and you look at the big clubs in the Premier League, it is not the English or British game that is represented. The clubs are international XIs.

"There is no doubt that the Premier League is a global success story in terms of marketing and money. But one has to question whether this success has been for the benefit of the game, and not just in England but elsewhere, because the example of football's motherland is important.

"People want the best for their clubs and the Premier League clubs can afford it. But this does not serve football. To serve football you must never forget the national team."

Meanwhile Capello began work and declared he had been wanting to manage England "for a long time".

Although Capello was at Villa Park and Kenilworth Road over the weekend to watch two closely contested FA Cup ties, his reign as Steve McClaren's successor did not officially begin until Monday.

"It is a huge honor for me to today begin my work as England manager," said the Italian. "I have wanted this job for a long time.

"I have had the privilege of managing some of the most successful clubs in the world, but the England job is as big as any."

AFP

(China Daily 01/09/2008 page22)