Annex C
Government announces New Work Permit Criteria
for Football Players
Margaret Hodge, Minister for Employment and
Equal Opportunities and Tony Banks, Minister for Sport, today
announced new work permit criteria for non-European Union football
players, following discussion with the football governing bodies
in England and Scotland.
The Work Permit Criteria for the 1999-2000 football
season are as follows:
— Players must have appeared in 75
per cent of their country's competitive interntional "A"
team fixtures in the previous two years;
— Permits will be valid for the length
of a player's contract with the club;
— The FIFA ranking of the player's
national side aggregated over 2 years will be a criteria.
The Government also announced its intention
to establish an appeals panel which would include a representative
from the football governing bodies and up to three independent
individual experts. They will consider applications which do not
meet all the criteria but for where evidence has been provided
by the club to support their view that the individual concerned
is of the highest calibre. The panel's recommendation will be
forwarded to the Education and Employment Secretary for a final
decision.
Employment and Equal Opportunities Minister
Margaret Hodge said:
"The new criteria will help to ensure that
only non-European international players of the highest calibre
will be playing for British clubs. By adopting a straightforward,
open, and transparent system we have removed the bureaucratic
red tape to ensure a faster and fairer application process. The
clear and consistent criteria will be welcomed by clubs, players
and fans."
"I am aware that we need to safeguard the
opportunities for young English players and to this end we have
invited the football governing bodies to consider grounds for
a quota system for a maximum number of Non-European international
players per club."
Minister for Sport Tony Banks said:
"The criteria strikes a sensible balance
between allowing clubs to recruit the best available international
talent and the need to provide opportunities for home grown young
players.
2 July 1999
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