• Sepp Blatter claimed England will stay in the shadow of Europe's elite
• He said national team will fail to develop if managers keep looking abroad
• FIFA president believes England significantly behind Spain, Italy, Germany
  

By Dominic King and Larisa Brown

PUBLISHED: 05:19 EST, 15 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:58 EST, 15 January 2013

Sepp Blatter has said England will stay in the shadow of Europe's elite unless influx of foreign players is brought under control

England will stay in the shadow of Europe's elite unless the influx of foreign players to the Premier League is brought under control, the FIFA president has said.

Sepp Blatter is adamant the national team will fail to develop if managers keep looking abroad for players.

He believes England are significantly in the shadow of Spain, Italy and Germany - and so will therefore never win a World Cup unless the buying of players from overseas is limited.

He is however impressed with how the Barclays Premier League has been marketed and sold around the world.

Mr Blatter was speaking during a wide-ranging interview with Special Report on Sky Sports News, in which he tackled subjects including racism, future World Cups and the possibility of being succeeded by Michel Platini.

He said: ‘I don’t think the Premier League is too global (but) you have too many foreigners and not (enough) English players, so your national team is not yet at the level of these national teams.

‘If you look to Spain, Italy and Germany, you realise 80 per cent or even more of the players of the national team play in their own league.’

Mr Blatter, who confirmed that goalline technology will be trialled during this summer’s Confederations Cup, called for clubs whose fans racially abuse players to be docked points.

‘A more radical solution would be deduction of points,’ said Mr Blatter.

‘Deduction would have a better impact. To have a match played without spectators is a warning. You can never solve a problem by running away.'

The England team pictured during the Euros in 2012

England's striker Wayne Rooney, England's midfielder Steven Gerrard and England's defender John Terry as they lost 4-1 against Germany in the 2010 World Cup

England was once one of the most fancied teams when entering into the World cup but betting odds this time round suggest otherwise.

Betfair odds for England winning the cup in 2014 are 25:1 - relatively poor compared to previous years.

The national team appears to have been on the decline for a while now, with most of the so-called 'Golden Generation' having retired from international football.

England will take a new generation of players to the Brazil World Cup in 2014 and it is thought the team would do well to reach the Quarter Finals.

In 1990 England did well, making it to the Semi Final but being eliminated on penalties against West Germany. But in 1994 the team did not even qualify.

In 1998 the team were eliminated on penalties against Argentina in the first Knockout Round.
They did better in 2001, where they made it to the Quarter Final but lost 2-1 again Brazil.

Again in 2006 they made it to the Quarter Final but were eliminated on penalties against Portugal.

2010 saw an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against Germany in the Second Round.

The team have so far had a shaky start in Group H, showing the road to Rio is set to be an uphill struggle.

England drew with the Ukraine in September and drew again with Poland in October.

They still have to play San Marino, Montenegro and Moldova and only group winners progress to the finals.

The eight best runners-up from the nine Europe groups - according to all their matches except for games against the sixth-placed team in their group - play off for the four remaining spots.