Abhranil Roy
It has been all over the news, the TV and Social media and there has been no dearth of discussion on it: What is it? It’s ” Brexit”, or a referendum which will decide as to whether England will continue to stay in the European Union or not. 52% of the people have voted in favour of leaving the EU, and that basically means that within the next 2 years, Britain will no longer be a part of one of the world’s biggest democratic conglomerates. So what effects will it have in general, and on football in particular?
Most of the talks regarding the consequences have been about immigration, economic impact and other important national matters, but it seems that the sport in England will also undergo a few critical changes. Here are 3 ways how that could happen:
The Foreign Players in the UK-
According to current rules, players who hold an EU passport are currently free to play in the UK, and those without such a passport must meet the ‘Home Office’ criteria. The Home Office criteria mostly require players to have featured in a required number of games for their national sides, according to the official ranking of their respective nations.
A player from a top ten nation needs to be a part of 30% of the games played by the respective international team, in two years prior to the date of application, to be granted a work permit in the UK. The percentage of games required increases as the ranking drops. A player from a nation ranked 11-20 needs to be involved in 45% of international games, between 21-30 the percentage rises to 60% and it goes up to 75% for nations ranked 31-50. These rules are applicable to only those nations ranked 70 or under in FIFA’s official ranking system.
Given that Britain is now leaving the EU, all offshore United players will have to fulfil this criteria, which could prove to be a huge hurdle. The likes of Juan Mata, Ander Herrera etc. could all be in big trouble, and this situation was wisely summed up by Karren Brady, vice-chairman, West Ham United as:
“Leaving the EU could have a big impact on foreign players, as independent analysis has shown that two-thirds of European stars in England would not meet automatic non-EU visa criteria and therefore might be forced to leave. Losing this unhindered access to European talent would put British clubs at a disadvantage compared to continental sides. English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish football gains so much from being in Europe. ”
Emphasis on Homegrown Talent-
The loss of foreign recruits could have the countering effect of putting more focus on the local players. United will probably have to abandon it’s philosophy of buying top class young talents from other countries, and focus more on overhauling our current youth set up. This means that it is less likely that we will keep getting players like Fosu Menshah, Januzaj and Perreira, and have to hone the likes of Rashford and Blackett a lot more.
The Fans-
Fans travelling to away games in Europe currently enjoy cheaper flights and do not require visas while visiting EU nations. That situation could change dramatically with Brexit. Away ties in Europe will cost a bucket, and stringent laws will be maintained which would make travelling huge hassle for the fans.
