With the referendum in the United Kingdom to leave the EU now a month old, now is a good time to speculate the possible effects on various football codes.
Obviously, the effects will be biggest in the EPL, but for Australia it will have particular effects on the rugby codes. It won’t, however, have any significant effects for the next three years until ties are officially severed.
Currently, all three codes have a restriction on foreign players. The existence of the EU and the Kolpak ruling and the Cotonou Agreement vastly affect what is considered a foreign player.
Firstly, the Kolpak ruling is named after a Slovakian handball player who was legally residing and working in Germany. The European Court of Justice ruled that the existence of a trade agreement between Slovakia (which wasn’t in the EU in 1997) allowed for the unlimited use of players from countries with such association agreements.
Highly significant for cricket and the rugby codes is the Cotonou agreement, which extends the ruling to citizens of ACP states (African, Caribbean and Pacific) to not be counted as foreign.
This explains why Sonny Bill Williams first played for Toulon after obtaining a Samoan passport. Andrew Mehrtens also obtained a South African passport before playing in the UK. The New Zealand Warriors have also seen a large drain of talent over the last two decades with many of their players having Pacific islander heritage.
The Home Office of the UK government makes it difficult for a non-EU or Kolpak player to play in the UK football leagues. Depending on FIFA rankings, a player must have represented their home nation in up to 75 per cent of recent national matches.
In the top two tiers of English and Scottish football, there are over 332 players that qualify via the EU and Kolpak. It has been stated that over 100 Premier League players would no longer qualify. The British academy system, responsible for a young (and countless others) starting at Manchester United, would be severely hampered.
In the Championship, the BBC reported, “Only 23 of the 180 non-British EU players currently playing in the Championship would get work permits… Remarkably, none of the 53 non-British EU players in the Scottish Premiership would qualify for a permit on the basis of their international career alone.”
Some claim Brexit will actually allow for better development of British talent and the ability for the UK to negotiate its own rules and allow for more players outside ACP and the EU. This would need a rewriting of the Home Union’s work permit rules and would be highly dependent on new trade associations the UK enters.
Entry into the European Economic Area would see the current system remain but would involve other EU restrictions that would negate the idea of Brexit.
On the rugby union front, in the absence of other trade agreements and rule changes, we would probably see increased player movement towards the Top 14 in France. Current rules only allow for the use of 2 foreign players in any game. Currently, there are 72 Kolpak players in the Aviva premiership.
Another possibility is that more Pacific island players will head to Australia and New Zealand and Super Rugby or to Ireland. Any move by Northern Ireland or Scotland to exit the UK could see an influx of Pacific island talent.
Rugby league will obviously see fewer players with Pacific island passports and Australians with European heritage in the Super League. This player drain to the Super League has reversed significantly in the past decade and could grind to a halt.
There are roughly 50 players in the Super League on EU or Kolpak passports. This could be a positive, as in the other sports, with more places available for home-grown talent. In the case of rugby league, it could be a real talent drain in a sport that has struggled since rugby union became professional.
There are many possibilities in all three sports and cricket with the EU ties to be cut in three years. This may simply allow for more customised and flexible rules for football codes.
Under the current system, though, I can see nothing but a drainage of international talent from all three codes to other countries. This is only compounded by the pound, which has lost significant value since the referendum. It is an issue we will definitely hear more about in the next few years.
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