‘It smacks of the cack-handed arrogance permeating much of government policymaking’
WHEN it comes to trouble in the territories, the British Government has rarely covered itself in glory. Its latest local difficulty presents itself as little surprise: Home Office mandarins at Whitehall currently mulling over what to do with work permit applications for footballers when Britain leaves the EU have come up with a potential policy that satisfies no-one in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Indeed, so unpopular is the idea that even England’s Premier League clubs have lined up behind the SFA, FAW and IFA in their opposition to it.
On the table is a proposal that would hand over de facto authority to the English Football Association to make judgments on which overseas players are deemed suitable to play in Scotland (and, by extension, Northern Ireland and Wales).
At present, that power resides with the SFA, the SPFL, PFA Scotland and independent experts who discuss work permit applications before choosing to recommend or reject a club’s request for approval.
It should remain with those bodies since they exist to protect and promote the game in this country. The proposal is muddied by the English FA’s own legislation which seeks a form of protectionism for future generations of England players by insisting Premier League clubs have a quota of eight homegrown players. The clubs have long argued this is a restriction of trade. As it would be for Scottish clubs.
The economic strategies of our biggest clubs have, out of financial necessity, tended to focus on two strands: ensuring European football and uncovering and developing the young European (or global) stars of tomorrow with a view to fattening them up and selling them on for a sizeable profit.
At a pen stroke, this second aim would be wiped out. With this, the probability of ensuring any kind of success – thus generating further revenue – would be significantly compromised.
So, too, would the chance for Scottish football fans to watch talented young players cut their teeth. In recent years supporters have been treated to an array of top talents such as Virgil Van Dijk, Odsonne Edouard, Alfredo Morelos. In bygone years, they would have been denied the opportunity to watch such luminaries as Stylian Petrov.
Let’s park, for now, the suspicion that this is part of some sinister strategy aimed at weakening the national game in Scotland. It’s nothing of the sort. But it does smack of the kind of cack-handed arrogance that permeates much of government policymaking when it comes to Scotland.
As Ian Blair, the SPFL secretary said yesterday, “the FA does not represent Scottish football”. And nor should it. It’s akin to asking a politician what he knows about building bridges. In the case of Boris Johnson, likely the man who will preside over any attempted implementation of this policy, the answer is not a lot.
However, given Scotland’s position as a founder member of FIFA, it is highly likely any government proposal would be killed, since article 11.5 of the governing body’s statute book reads “each of the four British associations shall be recognised as a separate member association of FIFA” while article 15 (c) invokes associations “to be independent and avoid any form of political interference”, and article 15 (g) states: “the member association has the primary responsibility to regulate matters relating to ... the registration of players”.
In previous instances where government has interfered in football matters, FIFA has acted decisively.
Last year, the Spanish FA was warned against government interference while in 2017 Pakistan and Mali received bans. Pakistan was sanctioned after the Pakistani Football Federation’s head was appointed by a state court, and the Mali team was banned from competition after the sports minister fired the head of the Mali Football Federation. Yes, the British Government has stumbled from one embarrassment to another since the Brexit vote in 2016, but even it is unlikely to pursue a policy that would lead to the suspension of the English national team.