Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond believes the controversial European Commission plan to scrap transfers would produce anarchy in professional football.

The Premier League are to seek urgent talks with the EC to try to force them to abandon the plan, and FIFA are set to announce their proposals for tackling the problem in Zurich today following what is sure to be a stormy meeting with representatives of European governing body UEFA.

Having been told to report to the EC by September 20, UEFA have become increasingly concerned that FIFA have failed to grasp the significance of the issue.

Concern is starting to reach crisis point, and unless some plausible alternative can be put before an increasingly agitated Commission, then Mario Monti, the European Union's competition commissioner, will rule the current transfer system to be an infringement of employment rights under the Treaty of Rome and force FIFA to abandon it.

It is widely accepted that the effect of such a move would be catastrophic.

Top clubs, who have invested millions in new players during the summer, would suddenly find their charges able to leave for no fee at minimal notice.

Richmond said: "This issue has been around for a few months, but an organisation like the EC, which has made decisions and rules on what shape bananas and cucumbers should be, is well able to reach a decision that would turn football into total anarchy.

"It would remove the incentive to have a youth policy, bearing in mind that a club works for ten years with youngsters to arrive at a situation where a young player could go to someone else.

"It would put clubs in the lower divisions at a very serious disadvantage because they rely for their very existence on the players they produce.

"I believe sport is different from other forms of employment and should be treated as a special case."