SOCCER
Brazilian National Team coach suggested reducing the limit of foreigners in national football
Published on November 26, 2024 at 2:29 pm
Dorival Júnior in training for the Brazilian team Credit: Rafael Ribeiro/CBF
Coach of the Brazilian team, Dorival Júnior was ‘concerned’ about the possibility of nine foreign athletes in national football. The coach proposed a debate on reducing this limit, as, for him, the number could harm the development of talent in the country.
To justify his position, the commander used Italy as an example, which increased the limit for foreigners and was left out of the last two World Cups. The topic was addressed during the Summit CBF Academy event, this Tuesday (26), in São Paulo.
“I would like to draw your attention to one last detail: Italy opened the door so that within the European community 11 (foreign) players could move between their clubs. We had Italian teams with none of the 11 athletes trained in Italy. And Italy won two World Cups away. They didn’t realize how harmful it all was”, commented Dorival.
“It’s just a statement, president (of CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues), that you will definitely have meetings. Today we have nine foreign athletes authorized to participate in our clubs. It’s just a detail so that we can re-discuss this process because this has made … Just to give you an idea, our internal survey (showed that) of 20 Serie A clubs, 12 had foreign center forwards to sell, because our initiative to launch will focus exclusively on the outstanding ones”, he added.
The increase in the limit of foreigners who can be used per match, from seven to nine, was unanimously approved by the technical council in March. In 2023, the number had already increased from five to seven athletes from outside the country per game.
Another point of attention highlighted by Dorival was the early departure of young players from Brazil. Cases, for example, of Endrick and Estevão, who were sold to European clubs before turning 18.
“It is fundamental for us to review this context, situations that happen in Brazilian football and deserve greater attention from everyone: the departure of our young people prematurely, without them being able to provide technical feedback to the clubs, causing players to complete their training at clubs Europeans. We will also pay a high price soon”, he said.
