Parry rejects imports claims

Rick Parry, chief executive of the Premier League, has denied that the Bosman ruling on freedom of movement for players has damaged the English game.

Parry dismissed reports that the post-Bosman influx of foreign players would undermining the chances of homegrown players making an impact as "scaremongering" and said that the Premier League had the lowest percentage of foreign imports of any major European top division.

"We need to get the impact of the Bosman case into some sort of perspective," said Parry, before a meeting of the Uefa working party formed after the 1995 European Court ruling, when European football's governing body was forced to scrap the three plus two ruling on non-national players appearing in club teams, with no restrictions on European Union nationals.

"The situation on foreign imports in the Premier League is, in my view, a very healthy mix," Parry said. "Out of 740 registered professionals, we currently have 65 non-UK players from the EU and 28 from outside. The suggestion of much higher numbers is made by continuing to count the traditional presence of Scots, Irish and Welsh players as if they were foreigners."

Breakdown of foreign imports in top division of major European countries

Country Players Other EU Non EU Total

Spain 484 33 (6.8%) 107 (22.1%) 140 (28.9%)

Germany 399 93 (23.3%) 16 (4%) 109 (27.3%)

Portugal 502 24 (4.8%) 113 (22.5%) 137 (27.3%)

Italy 508 44 (8.7%) 51 (10%) 95 (18.7%)

France 407 24 (5.9%) 51 (12.5%) 75 (18.4%)

England 740 65 (8.8%) 28 (3.8%) 93 (12.6%)