The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced on Thursday that it will reduce the numbers of foreign players in the Premier League squads from its current crop of four players per club starting from 2020/21 season. In a statement published on their official website, the EFA issued the new transfer regulation for the upcoming season. The new regulation has maintained the quota of four foreign players per Premier League club that was introduced last season, but highlighted that this number will be reduced starting 2020/21 without giving any further details. A proposal that had been previously discussed by the Premier League clubs and EFA has also been adopted allowing one of Palestinian, Syrian or North African players to be registered as domestic players. However, the statement said that this measure will only be applicable for the upcoming season. The EFA aims to boost the number of homegrown players following the large number of recruits made by clubs last season to bolster their squads due to the hike in prices and rarity of talent in the local market. Most of the big guns like Ahly, Zamalek and Pyramids FC have been relying on their financial muscles to lure overseas talents to compete on the local and continental levels. This situation has come under criticism, seeing that it has restricted opportunities for homegrown players to play at a top level domestically and has also drastically affected the national team, which relies on the Premier League to pull from. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sportsand on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
