The European Parliament voted today in favour of a White Paper which examines the new role for the EU, envisaged by the Lisbon Treaty, in the area of sport. The most publicly debated issue concerns the number of foreign players permitted in European professional football teams, although this is only a minor aspect of the White Paper.

Hannu TAKKULA (Centre Party, Finland), shadow rapporteur for the ALDE group, points out: "We are not in favour of introducing the 6+5 rule proposed by FIFA under which clubs could field only five foreign players - in contrast to UEFA's more proportionate and non-discriminatory home-grown players scheme."

Toine MANDERS (VVD, Netherlands), ALDE shadow rapporteur of the Internal Market and Consumer Affairs Committee adds: "Parliament gives a strong signal to FIFA that it can't set rules ignoring EU's social and economical laws. I have always emphasised that without a dialogue and respect for existing legislation the future of professional sport is seriously in danger".

Parliament gives a strong signal to FIFA that it can't set rules ignoring EU's social and economical laws   

Toine MANDERS

Regarding TV rights, one of the White Paper's major subjects, the EP decision recommends that Member States and national sports federations and leagues introduce collective selling of media rights (where this is not already the case) and considers that there needs to be an equitable redistribution of income between sport clubs, including the smallest ones.

Sharon BOWLES (Lib-Dem, UK), ALDE shadow rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs:  "Those leagues which do not foresee solidarity mechanisms should introduce them. The Commission should accept collective selling of media rights as generally compliant with the EU competition rules." Ms. Bowles was keen to emphasize the respect for subsidiarity in any EU intervention in this field.

A second major subject deals with the self-regulation of Sport. The EP report recognises that most challenges can be addressed through self-regulation; in particular it mentions the autonomy of sport organisations where purely sporting matters are concerned. The EP report asks the Commission to respect the specificity of sport by providing more legal clarity in the guidelines on the applicability of European law to sports.

Next, the White Paper on sport will be discussed and voted in the Council.

The report on the White Paper: HERE