More local players needed in PSL – Parreira

“Five foreigners is too much for this league,” Parreira said in Johannesburg where Brazil are preparing for an international friendly against Bafana Bafana on Wednesday.

“Five foreigners means as many as 80 South African players are denied a chance to play every weekend at the 16 clubs [in the PSL].”

Parreira, assistant coach to Luiz Felipe Scolari with the Brazilian national team, said the standard of soccer in South African would benefit from a change in the rules.

“Now that the country is in a building process, there have to be more opportunities given to the local players,” he said.

“My thinking is that you may have five foreign players in the squad, but only three should be allowed to play on the field.”

“For me, three … is more than enough if you have the interests of the national team at heart.”

The PSL rules limit clubs in the First Division to five (5) registered foreign players during the course of any particular season, “even if previously registered foreign players are de-registered during the course of the season”.

However, the rules allow Premier Division sides to field “any number of registered foreign players in any particular match”.

Parreira was in charge of Bafana Bafana during their 2010 Fifa World Cup campaign and experienced first-hand the difficulties of increasing the national pool of players.

Hosts South Africa failed to make it past the group stages of the 2010 event. Not long afterwards, the 71-year-old returned to his native Brazil and later took up his role with the Samba Boys in 2012.

– Sapa