FIFA chief due in Belgrade on Oct. 9

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is due to visit Serbia in the coming days to speak to Serbian Football Federation (FSS) bosses. In an exclusive interview for Tanjug, Blatter said that he would tell the FSS to continue the way they were heading and that they would be given all the assistance they require from FIFA along that road. FIFA chief due in Belgrade on Oct. 9 The FIFA president will head a delegation arriving in Belgrade on Thursday, October 9, in what will be his first visit to Serbia. He said he still did not know all the details of the visit, but that he would definitely be meeting with FSS chiefs, as well as government officials. Talks with state officials, he said, would cover the so-called 6 + 5 resolution adopted at the FIFA Congress in Sydney in June 2008. Under that resolution, which applies to all continents and is of particular importance for Europe, every team would be obliged to have at least six homegrown players in its line-up at the beginning of a match. According to Blatter, Serbia could serve as an example to other football associations regarding the stand toward the national team. “In recent years, perhaps even decades, not only clubs, but even national teams, have begun recruiting foreign players. Consequently, clubs are losing their identity, first local identity and then national too,” he said. “The Serbian team is a national one, of which the country can be proud, because it is composed of domestic players,” Blatter said. “Young people are motivated and they see the possibility that they could one day play for their club and their national team,” the FIFA president told Tanjug. Sepp Blatter (Beta, archive)

FIFA chief due in Belgrade on Oct. 9

The FIFA president will head a delegation arriving in Belgrade on Thursday, October 9, in what will be his first visit to Serbia.

He said he still did not know all the details of the visit, but that he would definitely be meeting with FSS chiefs, as well as government officials. Talks with state officials, he said, would cover the so-called 6 + 5 resolution adopted at the FIFA Congress in Sydney in June 2008.

Under that resolution, which applies to all continents and is of particular importance for Europe, every team would be obliged to have at least six homegrown players in its line-up at the beginning of a match.

According to Blatter, Serbia could serve as an example to other football associations regarding the stand toward the national team.

“In recent years, perhaps even decades, not only clubs, but even national teams, have begun recruiting foreign players. Consequently, clubs are losing their identity, first local identity and then national too,” he said.

“The Serbian team is a national one, of which the country can be proud, because it is composed of domestic players,” Blatter said.

“Young people are motivated and they see the possibility that they could one day play for their club and their national team,” the FIFA president told Tanjug.