FIFA president Sepp Blatter has callled for all domestic European leagues to be reduced to a maximum of 16 clubs as he looks to restore the balance between club and international football.
“Ideally there would be 16 teams in every national football league,” Blatter told Bild.
“We will speak about that in 2007 at the FIFA Congress. The football market and the players cannot handle so much football in the long-term.”
The proposal is unlikely to be be well recieved, especially in Italy, Spain and England, where four teams would have to be culled from each top flight league in order to fit in with Blatter’s plans.
“It is what a lot of clubs want at the moment,” said Blatter.
“We need to reduce football so that there is a better balance between club and international football. That would mean more recovery time for the players.”
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