The All India Football Federation (AIFF) recently announced that Indian clubs will be allowed to register four foreign players for the season. The four can include three players from anywhere and a fourth that must be of Asian origin. Only three foreign players, however, will be allowed to be on the field at any given time. The AIFF’s foreign player rule, on the heels of the English FA’s recent adoption of a homegrown rule, is just another approach by a national federation looking to develop domestic players. But the question remains, will these artificial rulings actually do anything to develop top caliber players, or are these rulings simply a way of shielding deeper structural issues in youth development?
