This Whole “Too Many Foreigners” Thing
By: Martha | May 2nd, 2007
What started out as a slow “a bluer Inter” burn late last week has turned into a biggish, media-fueled controversy (which would be getting much more attention were it not for the little matter of a Champions League match): Azzurri manager Roberto Donadoni thinks there are too many foreign players in Italy, and wants a return to the quota system.
The idea behind the old quota, obviously, was to keep the league feeling Italian, and to allow Italian players to flourish at home rather than having to look abroad for their chances. Plus, if each team can only plays X foreigners at any time, in theory Italians are playing in every position, honing their skills for later use on the international level. And it’s all a nice idea — in theory any way. In application, however, one wonders if it’s necessary: The Azzurri, you may recall, won the World Cup and are ranked #1 in the world despite the fact that the best team in Serie A has only one Italian regular. But the question isn’t only Italian — this sort of thing comes up regularly in England, too: “Arsenal who have too many foreigners;” “All the skill players come from abroad so English footballers aren’t forced to learn to run at people with the ball or perfect their touch.” Etc, etc, etc.
In the grand scheme of things, Serie A actually has a higher percentage of home-grown players than other major leagues. For example, according to an article on just this subject in last month’s Calcio Italia (which I can’t find online), during a sample weekend this past February fully 60% of the players who participated in Premiership matches were foreign, whereas in Serie A that number was only 27%. Looking at those numbers and England’s recent international results, you can see why it would be an issue there. In Italy, though? Harder to accept. Plus, take a look at the top 10 scorers in Serie A right now and you’ll see only two foreign names: Mutu and Ibra — the other eight (and all of the top four) are Italian. To me, that says great things about domestic talent.
Really, it seems like this is an issue right now mainly because of widespread resentment against Inter, because of both their success and also the perception that they somehow stole not only last year’s title, but this one as well. And yeah, they have an insane number of foreigners, but that’s not true of the league as a whole and, while it would be fantastic to see them developing Italian talent rather than Argentine, the Azzurri aren’t suffering. As long as what Inter are doing is legal and working, who are any of us to tell them to stop?
It seems like once Inter fade from the top (which will happen someday) people will forget all about this again, even if 10 of the Nerazzurri’s first 11 remain foreign-born, just like people are suddenly ripping Arsenal not for their huge foreign population, but for their inability to win.
Category: 
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
      |
Comments
-
I agree with your take Martha, and if almost 3/4 of the players in Italy and in fact Italian, there really isn’t much of a problem. One of the things that makes leagues like Serie A, La Liga and the Premiership great as a fan, is the fact that the best players in the world are there. I’d hope people could just appreciate the game and not be so hung up on a place of birth.
During the time that I lived in Italy, I noticed how different many Italians’ attitudes were to immigration, as compared to mine (as an American). While Americans are used to a “melting pot” culture, Italians and many Europeans are just getting used to this, due to the fact that immigration is a relatively new phenomenon there. Obviously, people are sensitive to the issue as it pertains to the major sport in Europe, but I find it troubling whenever these comments arise, whether they be in Italy or in England.
I can understand Moratti wanting to bring Italian national team players into the Inter squad, they are very good as a rule (adding De Rossi, for example, would boost any squad’s midfield), and probably would help with the marketing of the team domestically. But he shouldn’t feel the need or pressure to bring in players of a certain nationality, as Inter supporters should be more concerned with maintaining their domestic form and advancing further in the Champions league next year.
Posted from
United States
-
As I’ve said before, most of the Argentines and many of the Brazilians playing in Serie A are Italian (ie, sons of Italian immigrants to South America). If you find a good one playing in Italy before their “home” nations notice (think Camo and hopefully someday, Amauri), the Azzurri can sign em up.
Posted from
United States -
While that’s true, Muddia, I’m afraid it won’t make anyone in the “too many foreigners” camp feel any better. I mean, no one accepted Camo until the Azzurri won the World Cup with him in the side, and I think there are still many people who would prefer he wasn’t in the side because of his heritage.
Posted from
United States -
And that would drive me nuts if I were Camo. And, I’d even go as far as to say I understand why he doesn’t sing the anthem. I mean, he is Italian, he has citizenship and all.
Cripes, the Italian government is begging for Italian Americans to become dual citizens. I’ll you need is a maternal grandmother or something.
Posted from
United States -
i have no problems with international players, the problem lies when there are TOO many internationals on one team…and it isnt only inter, milan are beginning to follow. i think that real madrid is the worst for it however they are not in serie a so i will stick to the subject…i think that donadoni is right in the sense that there should be a limit as to how many internationals can play on a team because it really isnt fair when you look at teams like ascoli who cant afford to buy these players and in which case are suffering tremendously, i almost feel bad for them. i dont think getting rid of foreigners is the solution here i think that we should just LIMIT the number of them….we need to develop our primavera players so that they may have a chance at playing for the azzurri one day because unfortuneatly, canna, zambro, buffon, etc wont be playing forever (i no its hard to deal with) but it is the truth and by playing only foreigners these kids are not getting any better
Posted from
Canada -
The general concensus is that Europe is the biggest stage for footballers around the world. Soccer is the biggest sport in the world and it would be naive to think that teams should not go abroad to find talent. There is just too much of it out there. Players from around the world come and want to play in Europe. How many leagues are there in Europe.. Italian, Spanish, English, German, French, Dutch, Portuguese (& Maybe the Scotish PL) I would suppose are the most attractive ones. Not many leagues for a world full of players.
I do agree though that teams should be putting more emphasis on developing their Primavera players (which contain Internationals as well). It seems though that the menatallity is “Why develop one when I can buy one.” Shitty for the small market teams who develop from within and then …. whoops …. the player becomes too good and leaves for a giant club. The only way to even out the playing fields and and make the leagues more competetive, is introduce caps and put a limit on what the teams can spend. This should apply to player salaries, aswell as what they can spend during transfer periods. I think this will make leagues more exciting. I mean every league has its giants and for the most part the top 5-6 teams in each table are wayyyyyy ahead of the rest of the pack. It would be nice to see samll market teams have a chance from the start to contend. Ok, maybe not for the league title but for European play or something.
Anyhow, the Italians and the English are very old school and hard headed. Its going to be hard to keep the leagues as domestic as they want.
Posted from
United States -
that would be a much better idea paolo because i really think that if we want to see more exciting games in Europe we will have to find a solution
i think that you are right and it wil be hard to change because we are too stubborn but hopefully one day it will happen
Posted from
Canada -
I would love to see it happen, but logistically it would be hard. You would have to financially assess every club in club in Europe…. Good Flippin’ Luck getting accurate figures…. The giants have a ton more money than the smaller clubs, maybe 2 or 3 tons more. So everyone would argue as to what would be fair. But it would be awesome to see what each team could do with a limited budget. I hope one day it happens. For now it is what it is and the testa dura are just going to have deal with it :)
Posted from
United States
Comments are closed
Home 
