Transfer Market Regulations: Who is eligible to play football in United Kingdom?

I hope this article will clarify the confusion regarding EU footballers and non EU footballer’s .Also the transfer eligibility criteria.

 The eligibility criteria in not the same all over Europe, in this article I will write only about United Kingdom.

What is an EU footballer/EU passport player?

It is a player that holds a passport from one of this countries members of the   European Community: Austria  ,Belgium  ,Bulgaria ,Cyprus  ,Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia ,Finland , France,  Germany,  Greece, Hungary,  Ireland ,Italy ,Latvia  ,Lithuania  ,Luxembourg, Malta , Netherlands ,Poland , Portugal  ,Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain ,Sweden, United Kingdom.

What is a non EU footballer/ non EU passport player?

 A player that holds a passport from any other country in the world also from countries that is geographically in Europe but not members of the European community.

Who is eligible to play in United Kingdom?

Players that hold a European passport if is non EU player, the club should apply for” Work permit or Certificate of Sponsorship” in order to sign the player.

 Than if the player that don’t hold a passport from one of the countries members of the European community, these are the eligibility criteria.

 1) The players should be in the senior national team of his home country;

 2) Must have participated in at least 75% competitive international games for his national team in the last 2 years prior to the application for a work permit;

 3) If the player was only reserve and didn’t play it will not count in the percentage calculation process;

4) If the player was injured or suspended the game/ games will be excluded from the calculation process;

5) The player’s National Association must be at or above the 70th place in the official FIFA World Rankings;

If the player don’t meet the criteria is still possible to apply if the club have enough evidence to prove that the player is highest caliber and he will have a significant contribution in the development of the game in UK.

These are the competitions that will be used in the calculation process:   

 FIFA World Cup Finals match;

 FIFA World Cup Qualifying group match;

 FIFA Confederations Cup matches; and

 Continental Cup Qualifiers and Finals matches, for example:

 UEFA European Championships and Qualifiers;

 CAF African Cup of Nations and Qualifiers;

 AFC Asia Nations Cup and Qualifiers;

 CONCACAF Gold Cup;

 CONCACAF Copa Caribe;

 UNCAF Nations Cup

 CONMEBOL Copa America;

 OFC Nations Cup.

More information on the FA website

Written by Giani Boldeanu , Football agency ISMA & Partner , Football Agent UK, Switzerland, Partner ,Consultant ,Scout