From 1 May, the rules governing the eligibility of footballers from outside the EU to play in English football will fundamentally change to the detriment of African players.
England football supremo Greg Dyke announced the measure, which has been introduced to improve the chances of young English talent playing in the top tier, and thus improve England’s chances of winning a first tournament since 1966.
Up until the change, players who qualify to play for non-EU countries that are ranked in the top 70 in FIFA’s rankings may join an English team. By May, the list will be reduced by 20, so that players from countries ranked 51 to 70 will no longer be able to play here.
The change will immediately affect footballers from eight African nations sitting in the 51-70 band – Mali, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, South Africa, Egypt, Zambia, Rwanda and Burkina Faso – as well as those from nations that have a realistic chance of entering that band – found any Premier League dreams shattered.
Former Nigeria captain Sunday Oliseh called the change “unnecessary warfare”, and wants England to do more to improve its coaching standards rather than unfairly disadvantage talented players from nations that languish far from the world’s elite.
Meanwhile Zambia Football Association President Kalusha Bwalya said his career “would not even have started if these proposals were in place” when he was a player. He labelled the system “unfair” and said talent should be rewarded no matter when you are from, citing George Weah – the only African to ever be crowned FIFA Footballer of the Year (in 1995) – as an example.
The striker, who made his name at Monaco and AC Milan before joining Chelsea, hails from Liberia, who are currently 117th in the world and who have never been higher than 66th.
The good news though is that the rules have been misunderstood to a certain degree and that if a player from an African nation outside FIFA’s top 50 is good enough – and that is the key, someone has to judge him to be good enough – he is still likely to make it to England.
The new proposals are planned to increase the chances for quality players to come in, and both the size of the transfer fee and wage will be factored in when considering whether to import a player who fails the new work permit rules.
In short, the higher the price, the better chance for a non-EU player to gain entry, especially if he is already proven in Europe. One suspects that a few overpriced donkeys might well be turning up at the doorstep of English clubs in the short term. I have a dim recollection that an English club once signed a player based on his claim that he was a cousin of the same George Weah. Not only did Weah not know him, he was not even a professional footballer!
The English FA says 33% of players who earned work permits under the old system in the last five years would not have been granted a visa under the new rules. Now countless African footballers will be forced to try their luck elsewhere – with perhaps more finding their way to Spain’s La Liga or German’s Bundesliga or the riches on offer in Russia.
