http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/17/fa-non-eu-players-english-football
FA plans to slash number of non-EU imported players in English football
• Body wants 50% reduction in non-European players
• Greg Dyke’s proposals may benefit homegrown talent
• Football League would be worst hit by plans
• Transfer appeal process will also be overhauled
Owen Gibson
theguardian.com, Wednesday 17 September 2014 08.48 BST
The Football Association has unveiled detailed proposals to reduce the number of imported players coming into the English game from outside the European Union by up to 50%.
Under the plans, Football League clubs would be banned from signing non-EU players altogether and Premier League clubs would be prevented from sending them on loan. The FA chairman Greg Dyke hopes the changes will help prevent “mediocre” overseas players from blocking the progress of homegrown talent.
The detailed proposals, which the FA hopes could come into force by next season, follow on from the package of measures outlined in May by Dyke’s England Commission. Under the proposals, only players from the top 50 Fifa-ranked countries in the world could be signed unless the transfer fee is more than a pre-defined figure, which could be set at £10m or £15m.
The FA also proposes to toughen up the appeals process so that clubs can only challenge decisions on the basis that the process has been incorrectly followed rather than on their substance. At present, almost 80% of appeals succeed and the process has been heavily criticised for being too lenient and forcing tribunals to make subjective judgments on players’ abilities.
A total of 122 overseas players from outside the EU were granted visas between 2009 and 2013, 23 of them in the football league. To balance the changes, designed to help improve the chances of homegrown players gaining experience between the ages of 18 and 21, it would also become easier for top, international class non-EU players to gain work permits.
At present, the rules technically require non-EU players from the top 30 ranked countries to have played in 75% of their country’s competitive internationals in the previous two years. However, the rule is often overlooked and under the proposed new rules that figure would be reduced to a more realistic 30%.
Dyke’s Commission was convened to try to stem the declining number of homegrown players in the top flight and address a crisis in the quantity and quality of young Englishmen coming through the system. When the commission’s report was released in May, Dyke said many of those interviewed had “argued strongly to us that too many mediocre players are getting work visas”.
“Our proposal to tighten the entry and appeals criteria for non-EU player immigration will create a necessary constraint that will encourage more considered and valuable player acquisitions from outside the EU,” he added.
The proposals are contained in a consultation paper produced by the FA under Home Office requirements and it will now hold talks with other stakeholders including the Premier League, the Football League, the Professional Footballers’ Association and the League Managers Association on their introduction.
“The defined criteria are designed to result in visas only for those elite sportspeople who are internationally established at the highest level [and] whose employment will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK,” said the FA in a statement.
Dyke’s Commission, which also came up with a controversial plan for Premier League sides to introduce B teams into the Football League, has promised a second report focused on the grassroots later this year. The B team idea was branded unworkable by the Football League and provoked a backlash from fans, but a revised version that would allow Premier League sides to play an under-21 side in the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy is now under consideration.
FA plans to slash number of non-EU imported players in English football
• Body wants 50% reduction in non-European players
• Greg Dyke’s proposals may benefit homegrown talent
• Football League would be worst hit by plans
• Transfer appeal process will also be overhauled
Owen Gibson
theguardian.com, Wednesday 17 September 2014 08.48 BST
The Football Association has unveiled detailed proposals to reduce the number of imported players coming into the English game from outside the European Union by up to 50%.
Under the plans, Football League clubs would be banned from signing non-EU players altogether and Premier League clubs would be prevented from sending them on loan. The FA chairman Greg Dyke hopes the changes will help prevent “mediocre” overseas players from blocking the progress of homegrown talent.
The detailed proposals, which the FA hopes could come into force by next season, follow on from the package of measures outlined in May by Dyke’s England Commission. Under the proposals, only players from the top 50 Fifa-ranked countries in the world could be signed unless the transfer fee is more than a pre-defined figure, which could be set at £10m or £15m.
The FA also proposes to toughen up the appeals process so that clubs can only challenge decisions on the basis that the process has been incorrectly followed rather than on their substance. At present, almost 80% of appeals succeed and the process has been heavily criticised for being too lenient and forcing tribunals to make subjective judgments on players’ abilities.
A total of 122 overseas players from outside the EU were granted visas between 2009 and 2013, 23 of them in the football league. To balance the changes, designed to help improve the chances of homegrown players gaining experience between the ages of 18 and 21, it would also become easier for top, international class non-EU players to gain work permits.
At present, the rules technically require non-EU players from the top 30 ranked countries to have played in 75% of their country’s competitive internationals in the previous two years. However, the rule is often overlooked and under the proposed new rules that figure would be reduced to a more realistic 30%.
Dyke’s Commission was convened to try to stem the declining number of homegrown players in the top flight and address a crisis in the quantity and quality of young Englishmen coming through the system. When the commission’s report was released in May, Dyke said many of those interviewed had “argued strongly to us that too many mediocre players are getting work visas”.
“Our proposal to tighten the entry and appeals criteria for non-EU player immigration will create a necessary constraint that will encourage more considered and valuable player acquisitions from outside the EU,” he added.
The proposals are contained in a consultation paper produced by the FA under Home Office requirements and it will now hold talks with other stakeholders including the Premier League, the Football League, the Professional Footballers’ Association and the League Managers Association on their introduction.
“The defined criteria are designed to result in visas only for those elite sportspeople who are internationally established at the highest level [and] whose employment will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK,” said the FA in a statement.
Dyke’s Commission, which also came up with a controversial plan for Premier League sides to introduce B teams into the Football League, has promised a second report focused on the grassroots later this year. The B team idea was branded unworkable by the Football League and provoked a backlash from fans, but a revised version that would allow Premier League sides to play an under-21 side in the Johnstone’s Paints Trophy is now under consideration.
