27.03.2015 23:23 h

Premier League chief hits back at FA plan

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore on Friday claimed the Football Association would not be able to force through chairman Greg Dyke's plan to increase the number of homegrown players in the top-flight.

Dyke is keen to bring in new regulations that would make it harder for Premier League clubs to sign non-European Union players, in the hope of increasing the number of homegrown players in Premier League squads from eight to 12.

Dyke has also proposed changing the rules so that a homegrown player is defined as one who has trained in England for three years before the age of 18 rather than 21.

But Scudamore claims clubs were told by Dyke at a meeting on Thursday that the FA could not impose the change.

"Two very important things came out of that meeting yesterday. Consultation - Greg committed the clubs to a full consultation on it," he said.

"I know he's done lots of media this week, but we haven't actually seen his consultation document, we haven't seen the process. When that arrives on our desks in the fullness of X number of weeks, we will consult properly on it.

"Greg also made it quite clear when a direct question from a club was asked of him, they said, 'Can the FA impose this if we don't want to do it?' He was quite clear that they couldn't.

"We'll enter the consultation phase as we always do. We will consult and we will get back to it in due course."

Scudamore says the Premier League is willing to consult on the change but is likely to resist it, preferring instead to invest in youth and facilities which it hopes will eventually produce top-class British youngsters.