Nigeria: English FA New Rule On Foreign Players Work Permit Requirements: Positives For Nigerian Players And Other Foreigners

Introduction

This piece examines the new rule introduced by the English Football Association (the FA) in agreement with the Clubs Association and the United Kingdom (UK) Interior Ministry, which relaxes some criteria for a number of foreign/international football players to enable them play for clubs in the English League.

The New Rule

The English Football Association (FA) on June 14, 2023 announced that English Clubs will now be able to sign a specific number of football players who do not meet the points requirement for work permits after the UK Ministry of Interior approved new criteria for international players' visas.

The FA Chief Executive Officer, Mark Bullingham stated this as he reviewed the new Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) Criteria¹ which is expected to come to life at the opening of the 2023/2024 transfer window² In précis, this new rule will allow Premier League and Championship teams sign up to four foreign (international) players who ordinarily, do not meet the points threshold for work permits. League One and League Two teams can only sign two for a season.³

According to the FA Chief, this was a move to meet the different objectives of the English Club Football stakeholders. Furthermore, the policy is designed to give football clubs in England additional access to international talents. The various teams in the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two are in return required to work with the FAon improving the pathway for talented English/Homegrown youngsters.

With the increase in number of foreign or non-English owners of Premier League and English Football League (EFL), a policy/rule like this is not surprising at all. It is only fair that a foreigner investing in English Football through his club should be able to give talented nonEnglish youngsters the opportunity of being nurtured and developed at the most prestigious football league in the world.

Positives for the Local Nigerian Footballers and other Foreigners

I believe this new rule/policy will no doubt favour a country like Nigeria and other African and South American Countries where footballing talents are littered like sand at the seashore. Nigeria stands to benefit much more because it will offer English clubs premium talent at a very considerable cost when compared to Countries in South America.

Hitherto Nigerian youngsters found it difficult to get signed directly to English clubs owing to the points required for issuance of work permit for international players. Thus, interested English clubs would be constrained to sign a youngster and loan them to a team usually outside the top 6 leagues in Europe for a number years to meet the required points before such players can finally join their parent club. Most times, during this loan arrangement, the parent club pays the entire allowances of the players and is responsible for handling all their medical expenses should they sustain any injury. All these merry-go-round made it expensive for the clubs, as such, they choose to sell these players, thereby denying them the opportunity to play in the English League.

Many Nigerian youngsters experienced this plight after putting up sterling performances at FIFA Under 17 & 20 cup competitions. Players such as Emmanuel Sarki, Kenneth Omerou (signed by Chelsea FC), Taiwo Awoniyi (signed by Liverpool FC), Kelechi Nwakali (signed by Arsenal FC), Chidiebere Nwakali (signed by Manchester City FC), Musa Yahaya (signed by Tottenham Hotspur FC) and many others who never got the chance to play for the English clubs that first signed them. Painfully only Taiwo Awoniyi out of the examples stated is currently playing in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest FC. The others are not even playing for teams in the top division

Another way was to sign foreign youngsters on scholarship contracts. It means the club will spend additionally on school and possibly have to relocate and maintain the youngsters in England. This arrangement can also be quite expensive and clubs would rarely go down this road, especially clubs in the Championship, League Two and League One owing to their meager finances.

With this new rule/policy, things might begin to change. It means, English clubs can now sign players straight from Nigeria (either from the Nigerian Professional League Teams or Academies or Grassroots teams) directly and have these players integrated in their club in no time.

Notwithstanding that the new rule/policy only allows 4 players per Premier League and Championship clubs, and 2 players per League One and League Two clubs per season, when one does the math vis-à-vis the number of clubs in each division of the league, the potential number of players that can be brought into the English League is encouraging, and as earlier stated, Nigeria offers a more suitable deal in terms of talents and cost, hence, Nigerian Players plying their trade locally have a good chance of being beneficiaries of this new rule/policy.

Currently, there are 20 clubs in the top flight Premier League, thus, if each of these clubs can bring in 4 players each, that's a total of 80 potential players. The EFL Championship League houses 24 clubs, thus 24 multiplied by 4 brings a total of 96 potential players for the Championship. League One and League Two each have 24 clubs each, with an allowance to bring in as much 2 players each, that gives a total of 48 potential players for each of the division. Thus, the grand total of potential players that could find their way to the different divisions of the English League for the 2023/2024 season is 80 + 96 + 48 + 48 = 272.

I sincerely believe that English clubs should turn their attention to Nigeria in taking advantage of this new FA rule/policy. The clubs can pursue this through direct scouting and recruitment or via having different memorandum of understanding with different local clubs, academies and grassroots teams. The talent in Nigeria is indeed enormous. The Nigerian players must also up their game, do their best to have an organized team of representatives irrespective of the level the players play in. Parents of players who are legal minors must endeavor to secure the services of legal practitioners, law firms and football agents for their wards before the time comes.

Conclusion

The new rule/policy by the English FAis a smart and dynamic decision calculated to maintain the English League's high standard, relevance, allure and appeal to the world. It is a given that this new rule/policy will present opportunities to Countries with rich heritage of grassroots footballing talents of which Nigeria is one. The big question however is - is our football sector ready to maximize this opportunity when it comes?

Footnotes

1. Governing Body Endorsement or GBE means an endorsement issued by The FA to a club for a non- EU/EEA elite player who is internationally established at the highest level, whose employment will make a significant contribution to the development of football at the highest level in England.

2. The transfer window opened at 12:01 midnight on June 14, 2023.

3. The Premier League is the English League's highest division with 20 clubs, followed by the Championship with 24 clubs, then the League One with 24 clubs and League Two also with 24 clubs. There is also the National League division and below the National League are the North and South divisions with other smaller sub-provincial divisions. 

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