with joel Crosskill

HALF OF the Premier League's 20 clubs are in the hands of foreign owners - and the better half at that. So it came as little surprise when Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore recently announced that "his" proposal for an international round of fixtures had received full backing from premiership owners.

The NFL played its first overseas, regular season game at Wembley last year and made a mint, so the Premier League has gone a little 'Belichick' and swiped a peak at the other codel's playbook.

Global appeal

The Premier League's insatiable need to cash in on their global appeal has led to the possible introduction of a new round of 10 competitive fixtures to be played abroad each January; starting in 2011. A plan that borders on the ludicrous, and I'll give you three reasons why:

Impractical: Fixtures in domestic and international competition are already congested, where are they going to find the time to fly off to Sydney or Los Angeles during the regular season? Irrational: The draw method to choose the fixtures could see Chelsea vs Arsenal for sure, but it's also likely to throw up Derby vs Fulham - who would want to host that? In addition, the big clubs tour already, so why is the premiership brass trying to get involved? Irresponsible: In that it seems an obvious and desperate clamour for new markets and new money, with a total disregard to the impact just one contrived game could have on an otherwise legitimate season. Not to mention the negative impact it could have on the domestic competitions of the host nations. Just think, if your club was battling relegation would you want them flying halfway around the world to play one of the top clubs for a third time in the season? Under the proposal it seems like the new owners would finally get to take home their shiny new toys and show them off to their countrymen - with five host cities bidding for the right to host four games, in different time zones, allowing viewers to watch the games one after the other.

However, Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam said his "organisation's priority was the promotion and protection of club competitions", and therefore would "reject any initiatives of this nature". As Manchester United found out last July when they had to withdraw from a planned match in Malaysia as it would have clashed with the Asian Cup, the region's flagship tournament.

BPL globetrotters?

But what's next? Can we expect a BPL globetrotter spin-off, for retired 'ballers - a circus act with David Beckham as Meadowlark Lemon? Or perhaps the premiership could borrow the All-Star weekend and have free-kick competitions in place of the dunk, and an All-Star game, with the players of both All-Star teams selected from fans around the globe - wait a minute, that's not a bad idea, come to think of it!

One thing is for certain though, with an estimated £40-80 million windfall from the proposed international round, the Premier League would near the billion pound mark in TV revenue. In addition to clocking astronomical air miles earned.

But in all seriousness, 2011 may become the year football's interpretation of home and away takes on new meaning for the premiership's foreign owners; and the hometown fans they seem so intent on distancing themselves from.

Full time!

Contact Joel at jcrosskill@sportsmax.tv