Blatter responds to Appiah, Essien

Ghana internationals Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien were among a worldwide selected list of 24 players that interacted with Fifa President Sepp Blatter concerning the game.

Both players became part of the maiden session on Monday organised by Fifa in conjunction with World Players Union (FifPro), the worldwide representative organization for all professional players.

Four other African players - Drogba, Kanoute, Eto and Aruna Dindane also asked questions.

Blatter fielded questions on a range of issues as diverse as African football, doping and the 6+5 rule.

Appiah, after Brazil's Robinho, took the stage to question Blatter about the support Fifa would give an Africa nation that desires to host the World Cup after South Africa in 2010.

Then, Essien drew a lengthy response as Blatter allowed Fifa General Secretary to answer when the Ghana player quizzed him on the 6+5 rule which limits the number of foreign players in European leagues.

Questions by Appiah and Essien and the responses

Stephen Appiah (Ghana midfielder)

“Will FIFA give African countries wishing to host the World Cup in the future the same support it gave to South Africa?”

Blatter: “Of course. There have already been some excellent African bids to host the World Cup. Morocco have put in several and came very close to getting it, particularly the last time. Egypt also had a very good bid then, while the joint bid made by Tunisia and Libya was not far behind it and Nigeria put themselves forward too. I have no doubt about Africa’s ability to organise an event like this, another World Cup, but I think we should let the first one take place first of all.”

Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghanaian international)

“The majority of African players would like to know what impact the 6+5 rule will have on African players plying their trade in Europe. As these players help support the economies of their home countries, is there not a fear that this rule might have a negative impact by reducing the number of these players and thereby eliminating the help they bring their countries?”

Blatter: “Jérôme Champagne is going to answer this one for me. He’s my spokesman, aren’t you Jérôme? (There is much laughter, but the President means what he says. Jérôme Champagne takes over) The 6+5 rule will, along with other measures, contribute to improving international, continental and domestic football by reducing the gap between clubs, especially… (The President interjects) That’s the big thing about it! Right now, football is a two-tier system: there’s the football of the rich and the football of the less rich. I won’t say ‘the poor’ because they no longer exist in football thanks to the steps we’ve been taking. The rich have a monopoly on the best players. I like it when Essien says he’ll no longer be able to help his compatriots, but a player like him – and he’s not the only one – will always have a place with any big European team. He mustn’t forget that the big English clubs – and the English aren’t the only ones if you look at the trend in Spain spearheaded by Florentino Perez and Real Madrid – can buy up to 30 players who would be starters anywhere else. There can only be 11 on the pitch at once and even if you count any eventual substitutes you come to 14. What that means is you have 16 players left in the stands each week. The main idea behind 6+5 is not to prevent the big stars from outside Europe coming to play on the Old Continent, but to reset the economic balance, thanks to which we can then promote the sporting balance. And, to my eyes, that’s the most important thing. Resetting the sporting balance and fighting against the idea that football only belongs to the rich – that’s what’s really at stake with the 6+5 rule.

Now, on the issue of the players, how many Africans, for example, have taken the major step of playing in Europe and how many, as it’s no doubt a minority, have been successful there? How many, having failed, can’t even return home or don’t dare to because they’re too ashamed? You sometimes find them in the second or third division in Belgium or France and, if that isn’t low enough, the first division in Switzerland. If we want football to be for the rich, and for them alone, then we’re heading straight for a wonderful professional league that won’t care about training youngsters and won’t care about their desire to play for their hometown club. We can avoid that with the 6+5 rule, just as we can give national teams their identity back within their own countries. While African players might be worried, their national associations have understood what’s at stake. At the start, lots of them were against the rule, but today I don’t know any that question it because they’ve understood that, while the best players have to leave, they need to make sure the others stay behind by offering them the means to make a decent living in their domestic competitions. The President of the African Confederation, Issa Hayatou, also shares this point of view after having been hostile to the project at first. That’s true across Africa, but it’s also true of lots of other countries.”