UEFA urges EU to make legal exceptions for sport

VIENNA, June 27 (Reuters) - European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Friday it was stepping up its efforts to have sport receive specific exemptions within European Union (EU) law.

Following a meeting in Vienna on Friday, UEFA's executive committee said it would present a document to the EU presidency calling for sport's specific nature to be recognised "within a clear legal framework."

Working together with other team sports, UEFA has secured several "declarations" from the EU concerning the specific social importance of sport, but the EU has yet to fully define this so-called 'specificity' in any binding, legal directive.

UEFA said its latest document would call on the European Council to "confirm its commitment to implement a definition of the specificity of sport in concrete terms."

The Council will also be asked to show unanimous support for particular UEFA-backed measures, including the organisation's controversial plans to introduce quotas promoting the use of locally trained players in professional squads.

Soccer's world governing body FIFA has put forward its own rival proposals involving quotas based simply on the nationality of players.

Both ideas have met with varying levels of resistance from opponents who argue that the measures are discriminatory and contrary to EU laws on the free movement of workers within the union's member states. (Editing by Rex Gowar)