The battle over homegrown players overshadowed the Premier League , FA and Government ’ s get-together on Friday in a fanciful show of harmony to promote grassroots facilities . The League ’ s opposition to FA chairman Greg Dyke ’ s campaign to increase the homegrown players in their squads from eight to 12 made pictures of Dyke , PL chief executive Richard Scudamore and Minister for Sport Helen Grant at a new 3G pitch in Brixton rather incongruous , especially as how the money will be spent or who will administer it has not been decided . ‘ The nitty gritty will be worked out , ’ promised Grant on her last day in office before the election , just when she ’ s starting to looking the part . Greg Dyke ’ s has a campaign to increase the homegrown players in their squads from eight to 12 . The PL want to kick Dyke ’ s project into the long grass , claiming it will never get through the necessary committees on which the League have seats . Dyke has ridden back from his aggressive approach on Monday when he said the FA had looked into forcing change but did not want to do so . When Southampton asked Dyke at the clubs ’ summit if he was going to force it through — as the FA could — he denied he ’ d said that . Instead , there will be a consultation process with an FA document arriving soon which the PL and their clubs will inevitably reject . Scudamore said : ‘ We haven ’ t actually seen the consultation document , we haven ’ t seen the process . When that arrives , we will consult properly on it. ’ The FA ’ s best hope is that UEFA can persuade the European Commissioner to allow 12 home-grown players in Champions League squads . Minister for Sport Helen Grant 's appearance at a new 3G pitch in Brixton was rather overshadowed . The non-stop spin about who ’ s giving what to grassroots football was in full force . Scudamore , Dyke and Grant were each accompanied by at least two of their PR team or policy advisors , all spinning like tops over a supposedly joint initiative . It was likened to a three-legged stool by Scudamore , who added : ‘ They fall over if any one of the legs gets sawn off. ’ The three speeches at the UEFA Congress from Sepp Blatter ’ s challengers for the FIFA presidency do not seem to have had much impact on voters . According to his supporters , Blatter is still on course for a ridiculous fifth term in office with a landslide 160 territories out of 209 , which explains why he doesn ’ t feel the need to go out on the campaign trail . That support includes around half of the UEFA countries , which is the percentage estimated by the Slovenia and Iceland delegations in Vienna . According to his supporters , Sepp Blatter is still on course for a fifth term in office . FA of Wales ’ loveable loose cannon president Trefor Lloyd Hughes gave the impression he didn ’ t really know where he stood at the UEFA Congress over his noisy claims to the British vice-presidency on the FIFA ExCo because it was Wales ’ s turn . And this was borne out by his official FAW statement congratulating the successful candidates after the elections in ‘ Vienna , Switzerland ’ . FA cutting to the Max . The FA ’ s desire to find 15 per cent cuts from every department to fund the England commission coaches and pitches initiative doesn ’ t stop them bringing in costly management consultants Maxxim to find more efficient ways for football ’ s ruling body to work . Complaints from the national game about the proposed cuts to the FA Trophy and Vase prizemoney brought the FA board response that sponsors should be found by the commercial department . Hardly likely when the flagship FA Cup has been without a backer all season . Four second places in the Six Nations is not stopping England head coach Stuart Lancaster talking about coming first for a change . His latest speaking engagement , for the NSPCC , is a glitzy evening with himself and Jonny Wilkinson at the Grosvenor House Hotel , London on April 23 talking to 450 guests about ‘ What it takes to Win ’ . Whether it ’ s advisable , even for a good cause , for Lancaster , with his track record , to be talking in tandem with a fabled World Cup winner is debatable . RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie chats to Lancaster at England 's base in Pennyhill Park in Bagshot . The ECB are negotiating a car deal for England with Toyota set to replace Jaguar . And if Kevin Pietersen does return , he should be required to arrive at matches in a Toyota . He famously annoyed Jaguar by refusing to drive their car when on a central contract because he wouldn ’ t commit to sponsors ’ player appearances . Kevin Pietersen famously annoyed Jaguar by refusing to drive their car because of players appearances .
Greg Dyke is campaigning to increase homegrown numbers in squads . Dyke wants 12 homegrown players in squads rather than the current 8 . Sepp Blatter is on course for a fifth time in office with a landslide of votes . Comment: