SEVILLE, SPAIN - DECEMBER 15: Munir El Haddadi Mohamed of Sevilla FC has one cap for Spain, but ... [+]
The FIFA Congress 2020 this week voted to pass changes to eligibility for national teams. The biggest changes mean that players are no longer tied to a national team on the basis of a single appearance when they were younger.
Players can now switch national teams provided they were eligible to represent a second country at the time they first played for their first country, even if they have played in an official competition for the first nation.
This applies so long as they have played no more than three matches (including friendlies), none of the matches were in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or confederation competition, and they all happened before the player turned 21.
The rule change seems more needed now than it was in the past as international friendlies have largely been replaced by ‘Nations League’ competitions, which increases the potential to lock more dual-national players down with a single cap.
One player who could benefit from the rule change is Sevilla’s Munir El Haddadi. In 2014, when El Haddadi was a hot prospect at Barcelona, he played 13 minutes of a European Championship qualifier for Spain in a casual 5-1 win over Macedonia.
He fell out of favor with Spain, but those 13 minutes meant he was ineligible to play for Morocco, meaning he missed the chance to play at the Russia 2018 World Cup. At the time, Morocco took their case all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but with the rule change, they should be able to call up El Haddadi as his solitary Spain appearance came before he turned 21.
Other African nations such as Ghana and Nigeria could also benefit, as several joint-nationality players have ended up playing just one or two games for European nations.
More and more of the world’s top soccer players are eligible for more than one country. Fifteen players in France’s World Cup winning side had roots in Africa, while the African sides at Russia 2018 were largely made up of players who play club soccer in Europe, including many who could have played at the World Cup for European nations instead.
When it comes to soccer, nationality is not as clear cut as it might have been in the past, and as a result, rules on eligibility can either narrow the gap between nations, or widen it.
These new rules make it harder for the top nations to stockpile talent through substitute appearances, but at the same time, they make it tougher for smaller nations to hold on to up-and-coming stars.
Jack Grealish and Declan Rice both made the switch from Ireland to England. In Rice's case, he had ... [+]
Irish fans in particular seem worried that the new regulations could mean more of Ireland’s future stars following the path of Jack Grealish and Declan Rice and switching allegiance to England.
One of the conditions of this switch in allegiances is that at least three years has passed since the last time the player was fielded by their first national team, which should stop any opportunistic national team changes.
Even so, there are many who feel that once dual-nationality players have chosen a national team to play for, they shouldn’t be able to represent anywhere else.
Another change made by FIFA clears up its rules over residency.
The previous rules stated that players who were not born in the territory and had no parents or grandparents born in the territory of a country they hold nationality for must have lived there continuously for at least five years after the age of 18 in order to be eligible for the national team. This clearly leaves a gap where players who are under 23 years of age would be unable to play for the national team.
Qatar's star striker Almoez Ali was the subject of an appeal by the United Arab Emirates following ... [+]
That rule came under scrutiny when Qatar won the Asian Cup in 2019 and the United Arab Emirates questioned the eligibility of Qatar’s star forward Almoez Ali, who was born in Sudan and was under 23 at the time of the tournament, meaning he hadn’t lived in Qatar continuously for five years after his 18th birthday.
The UAE’s challenge seemed like sour grapes at the time, coming after a 4-0 defeat in the semi-finals where they were utterly outplayed by Qatar and their fans resorted to throwing sandals at the celebrating Qatari players. The UAE were the only team to appeal Almoez Ali’s eligibility, and their case was based on claims Ali’s mother was not born in Qatar. After failing to persuade the Asian Football Confederation, the UAE took the case to CAS, who also ruled that Ali was eligible to play.
The new wording of FIFA’s regulations means that as well as living somewhere for five years after the age of 18, players who started living in a country before the age of 10 can be eligible after living there for three years, and those who started living there after the age of 10 can be eligible after five years.
As Almoez Ali moved to Qatar as a child, the new rules would have made him eligible for Qatar regardless of his mother’s birthplace.
FIFA’s new eligibility rules appear to be more about tying up loose ends rather than making drastic changes. They also appear to have enough safeguards to prevent some national teams exploiting them. But for players like Munir El Haddadi, the new rules could end up making the dream of playing in a World Cup come true.
