Brexit
evolution, not
revolution
As the UK awoke on the morning
of Saturday, February 1, apparently
nothing had changed. The trains ran;
cars, buses and lorries converged in
the usual traffic jams; planes took off
and landed.
Britain had not fallen off the
edge of Europe into the Atlantic
Ocean. Brexit had happened and
the transitional countdown was
inexorably under way.
As for daily life, so also for sport
in general – and football in particular.
This prospect has, over the past
three years since the referendum,
fascinated many directors and officials
in other major western European
countries and their leagues. They
consider Brexit a massive own goal for
the Premier League and believe they
can cream off a slice of the TV and
sponsorship action. Along the way they
would keep their own star players at
home and strike back at English clubs
in the Champions and Europa Leagues.
The vultures, however, are likely to
be disappointed.
One certain point for British
international football is Brexit is
irrelevant. That means not only for
England but also Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Wales, the four regions
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland. Only half the
55-strong membership of UEFA are
European Union countries, so the
status of the British home nations
is no different to those.
The same goes for the clubs. World
Cup, European Championship, Nations
League, Champions League, Europa
League? No change.
But the effect on the domestic
game is far more complex.
The four major players are the
government (national strategy), the
Football Association (governing all
English football), the Premier League
(most high-profile operation of its kind
in the world) and the Football League
(the three lower professional divisions).
Between them they must deviseKeir
RADNEDGE
THE INSIDERregulations to cope with legislation.
Until now, free movement of
labour within the European Union
has opened the UK football market
to anyone holding an EU passport.
This also benefited players from
Africa and South America who
acquired EU citizenship through
residency elsewhere or family roots.
It also included so-called “Kolpak”
citizens from countries adhering to
an EU Association Agreement which
grants the same right to freedom of
work and movement.
But after this year every foreign
footballer will need a work permit,
the precise terms of which have yet
to be agreed.
Until now, work permits have been
granted to non-EU players who have
appeared in a minimum percentage
of their country’s competitive games
over the previous two years. The
number of matches varies according
to the country’s place in the FIFA
rankings, with adjustments for age,
injury and suspension.
If a player fails these criteria then
exceptions can be made on the basis
of assessment as a special talent.
Immigration was a key factor in theBrexit vote. Boris Johnson wants to shut
out low-wage, unskilled immigrants, so
government ministers have proposed a
minimum annual pay rate of £30,
for a work permit.
That will not bother football. Premier
League players earn an average of
£3million a year; Football League players
earn much less but still way above the
notional minimum. Premier clubs target
established, outstanding foreign players
and will continue to do so.
However, while the Premier League
wants to maintain the status quo, so
the FA sees Brexit as an opportunity to
enforce greater opportunities for young
English players.
The plight of Phil Foden is a perfect
example of the FA’s concern: a gifted
member of England’s under-17 world
champions in 2017 yet still only a bit-
part player at Manchester City. A talent
going to waste.
Foden’s plight explains why such
as Jadon Sancho headed to Borussia
Dortmund in Germany for the chance
to play regular first-team football.
While the Premier League wants
work permits to be granted virtually
automatically, the FA wants to see
the number of home-grown players
in a 25-man squad raised from eight
to 12.
They will meet somewhere in the
middle. Maybe 10 by 2022 and a
promise of further negotiations about
an increase to 12 by 2025. Who knows?
This is, after all, Brexit under discussion
in which the only certainty is uncertainty.
The one English football sector which
may have to rethink its model is the
Football League, and the clubs in the
third and fourth tiers in particular,.
The market of low-level, free-marketLimited
opportunities
...Phil FodenAfter this year every
foreign footballer will need
a work permit, the preciseterms of which have yet
to be agreed
THE WORLD THIS MONTH