In 2008, the Premier League banned third-party ownership in England, and in 2012, then-UEFA president Michel Platini released a statement in which plans to ban third-party ownership were revealed, stating that "the committee decided that the ownership of football players by third parties should be prohibited as a matter of principle", while then UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said, "Third-party ownership of players bears many threats and there are many issues linked with the integrity of the competition and it is really time to regulate that and to have a stance on that." In 2014, Platini again called for the practice to end: "If FIFA fails to act, we will address this issue in our own competitions in Europe. The UEFA Executive Committee has already adopted a position on this issue in principle, and we will see this through," also adding it is a "danger to our sport" and "threatens the integrity of our competitions, damages football's image, poses a long-term threat to clubs' finances and even raises questions about human dignity". He was backed by FIFPro, the worldwide representative organisation for 65,000 professional football players, who stated the rights of the players were "under attack". In September 2014, it was announced by then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter that third-party ownership was to be banned completely following an indeterminate transitional period.