West Ham have four players who would have been unable to play in the Premier League last season had Britain not been in the European Union at the time… Dimi Payet, Pedro Obiang, Angelo Ogbonna and Adrian.
With Brexit having won the referendum the ramifications remain unclear around how the new relationship with Europe may affect the signing of players from the continent.
However, the four – who don’t have the requisite number of competitive international caps to qualify for a work permit – would not have attained an automatic visa and could have been prevented from making their transfers.
Under current employment rules, any player with an EU passport is free to play in the UK without restriction, while those from outside Europe must meet specific Home Office criteria which depends on how many international appearances they have made and where their country sits in the FIFA rankings.
football brings in enormous amounts of money for this government. I’m sure that the home office would adapt it’s rules if this income were put in peril.
But if not, mooro66, in time it might mean home grown players would get more of a look in, like in Germany, and, who knows, England might be able to get somewhere internationally again…??
Personally England means very little to me. Only WHUFC
I really hope that Britain leaving the EU does not harm the BPL because it would be a shame to see it go in decline
I’m no expert but wouldn’t it just be a case If them getting a work permit same as the African players have to?