Manchester United player Wine Rooney.
BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
Football is hard hit by the exit of Britain from the European Union.
Signing foreign players under the age of 18 will now be harder than ever.
The ramifications are likely to stretch across political and economic spheres but British football, too, is facing uncertain times as the country looks to stabilise amid the expected turmoil in the wake of the result.
Experts say that the impact of the Brexit on the sports world could be significant.
“However, we will not know how significant this will be until we have a clearer idea of the terms the UK negotiates for its continued relationship with the EU. If the agreement with the EU includes broad free movement obligations, such as those currently in place with European Economic Area members, the current position regarding the movement of players between the continent and the UK will most likely continue.
“If, instead, an agreement is reached which includes restrictions on the movement of persons and services, the impact on the sports world would be more significant.
“Firstly, English players may not be able to move to the continent freely and EU nationals could be subject to entry restrictions when seeking to play in England, if post-Brexit they are treated in the same way as current non-EU nationals.”
Experts say that it could be problematic for Premier League sides to sign young players from abroad.
They say that if the EU law ceases to apply in the UK, the organisers of sports competitions may be able to more effectively restrict the number of foreign players that feature in match day squads as they could potentially include EU nationals and Kolpak players within any foreign player quota.
