London's fans back Blatter's foreign quota plan

London football fans today backed FIFA chief Sepp Blatter's controversial plan to limit the number of foreign players in club sides.

In an exclusive poll for Standard Sport, 54 per cent of the capital's supporters said they were in favour of FIFA's proposal for a quota of five imports per team.

The issue has divided football with the Premier League fiercely opposed and the European Commission claiming it is illegal. But the principle was endorsed by an overwhelming majority of countries at FIFA's Congress last week in a move which has struck a chord with London fans.

Standard Sport's survey was commissioned as part of the 2008 London Football Report, which canvassed the views of nearly 3,000 fans of the capital's clubs.

When broken down by allegiance on the quotas issue, there is a clear divide between fans of London's two clubs in the Premier League's 'Big Four' and the rest.

The only supporters to show a majority against the plan were those of Arsenal (76 per cent) and Chelsea (56 per cent).