What requirements are there for international footballers to have work permits?

International Footballers and the FA Premier League

The Football Association Premier League is one of the most cosmopolitan football leagues in the world with players from all around the globe plying their trade in England. The way the league has shaped up since its inception in the early 90’s was that most of the players would be from the home nations with the only foreigners coming from Europe. Occasionally the odd African player or South American player would emerge but this was not the norm.

Currently there are huge amounts of African players, players from South America and even from Asia in amongst the huge amount of Europeans.

However, due to the fact that some foreign players can be procured for cheaper transfer fees than home grown talent many clubs in the lower divisions of English football are turning their attentions and transfer budgets to foreign players.

Free Movement of Workers

Within the European Union workers are able to move freely between European Union Member States without the need for work permits and visas. Footballers for the purpose of the law are regarded as workers and so can rely on the EC Treaty.

As a consequence a club playing in England can procure the services or European footballers without the need to apply for a work permit for that player.

The Bosman Decision

The Bosman decision has also enabled players from within the European Union to move between clubs based in European Union Member States for free when they are not under contract with any club.

The decision in the Bosman case has had much of an effect on the movement of players to the lower leagues of English football.

Which players do need work permits?

Football players who are from outside Europe will be required to obtain a work permit if they wish to ply their trade in English football.

Will all football players who apply for work permits automatically be granted them?

Not all footballers who wish to apply for work permits will be automatically be granted them as there is specific criteria by which the immigration authorities will judge the application.

What are the criteria which will be used?

Work permits will only be issued to international football players of the highest calibre who will be able to make a significant contribution to the development of the game of football in the United Kingdom at the highest level.

How is it established that the player is an international player of the highest calibre?

In order to establish on an initial application that the player is an international player of the highest calibre the following criteria must be met:

A player must have player for his country in at least 75% of its competitive A team matches of which he was available for selection, during the two years preceding the date of the application
The player’s country must be at or above 70^th place in the official FIFA world rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application

What is meant by a competitive A team international match?

A competitive A team international match is one of the following:

World Cup Finals game
World Cup Qualifying group game
Football Association confederation tournament game, for example:
The FIFA Confederations Cup
The UEFA European Championships and Qualifiers
The African Cup of Nations and Qualifiers
The Asia Nations Cup and Qualifiers
The CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF The Copa Caribe
The CONMEBOL Copa America
The OFC Nations Cup and
The UNCAF Nations Cup

Who has to submit the application?

It is the responsibility of the club that wishes to sign a player to make an application for a work permit on behalf of that player. In most cases the club will have agreed a contract with the player with the final stumbling block being the work permit.

It is therefore the job of the club to provide written confirmation of the player’s international appearance record of the proceeding two years highlighting the competitive A matches.

This information should be obtained from the National Governing Body which that player represents and then provided to the UK Border Agency who will not be able to make a decision until this is provided.

What happens if a player has been injured?

If a player has been injured during this time period meaning that he has been unable to represent his country this will be taken into consideration when assessing the application. If this is the case the club will need to provide supporting evidence.

What happens if a player has not been granted a work permit?

If a football player does not fulfil the above criteria and has his application for a work permit turned down there is the possibility for a club to appeal the decision. This appeal will be heard by an independent panel and it will be the job of the panel to assess the following things:

To consider whether the player is of the highest calibre
To consider whether the player is able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK

It is often the case that when clubs sign young players who have not had the opportunity to play for their national side due to their age the work permit will be granted due to the ability and potential shown by that player in their fledgling career.

If a player meets the criteria how long will a work permit be granted for?

If a player meets the criteria a work permit will be granted for the same length of time for which the player has been contracted at the club – the maximum length of a contract can be five years.

What happens if a club wishes to retain the services of a player after his initial contract expires?

When the work permit is about to expire if the club wishes to retain the services of the player they must apply for an extension before the permit expires. If the player again meets the above criteria it will be granted for the period of the player’s contract. If the player does not meet the criteria then the club can request for a panel to hear the case.

What happens if a club wishes to renew a player’s contract before it expires?

Often football clubs wish their players to sign new contracts a long time before their first one expires for a variety of reasons. For example the player may have performed better than expected so the club will wish to tie him down for another five years with better paid wages to ward off the threat from other clubs wishing to sign him.

In this case the club will need to apply for another work permit and if the above criteria are met the permit will be granted.

Contract Greater than 12 months

If the criteria are not met and the contract is for greater than 12 months and the club have requested a panel the UK Border Agency will approach the national governing body asking if they believe that the case needs to be heard by a panel. If the governing body feels unanimously that the case does not need to go to a panel the permit will be granted.

Contract less than 12 months

If the criteria are not met and the contract is for less than 12 months and the club has requested a panel, it will be arranged as normal.

What happens if a player is sold or loaned during his contractual period?

If a player is sold or loaned to another club before his initial contract has expired that the second club will have to make another application on the player’s behalf.


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