Skip to content

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore hits out at Football Association

Image: Richard Scudamore: Premier League chief executive has defended competition

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has hit out at the Football Association for attempting to pass the buck over England's failings.

Ripped up

The Premier League's critis have pointed to the fact that the number of home-grown talents within England's top flight has continued to dwindle. Only around 30% of Premier League players are English, a far lower home-developed percentage than other major European footballing nations, giving Three Lions boss Hodgson a tougher task. But Scudamore is tired of being told the elite 20 clubs are responsible for England's demise. "It is not the Premier League who ripped up the playing fields or didn't put money into schools," he said. "It is not my fault fewer young kids are kicking a ball around or that the country is not safe enough for seven, eight, nine year olds to go down to the park on their own as I did and play football until after dark. "We are putting on a competition the best players in the world want to play in. The population of England is only 60million and there are 212 countries playing this game. "We can put out a good team, just like Andy Murray can win Wimbledon and Justin Rose can win the US Open. "Good things do happen but they are not an automatic right. The idea an England team is going to be put together that will somehow beat the world is logically and mathematically implausible."

Around Sky