Premier League clubs and FA ‘poles apart’ over Brexit

[tototoner]

With customers already pissed off that they need to pay more subscriptions to multiple TV / Net companies and still not get to see every game , will this finally cause the Premier League money train to crash.

I must admit I think Clarke makes a very sensible argument to promote young English talent

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...lubs-and-fa-poles-apart-over-brexit-rmnsz7rvk

Serious differences have emerged between the Premier League and the FA over work permits for European Union players after Brexit, it can be revealed.

The Premier League wants any foreign player who is given a contract and included in a 25-man first-team squad to be eligible for a work permit — a change that would also make it much easier for non-EU nationals to join clubs in England’s top flight.

Club chairmen are fearful that imposing the same rules on European players that non-EU players now face would leave the Premier League at a huge disadvantage compared with European rivals. Had such rules been in place, players such as Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kanté and Laurent Koscielny would not have qualified for permits when they were signed by English clubs.

The FA, and in particular Greg Clarke, its chairman, hopes Brexit will increase the opportunities given to English players and reduce the influx of “journeymen” players.

Talks between football’s stakeholders are said to have been constructive without the bitterness that has overshadowed some areas of dispute in the past, but there is still considerable distance between the positions of the FA and the Premier League. One source close to the negotiations told The Times: “On the work-permit issue they are still poles apart.”

An FA spokeswoman said: “We continue to have constructive conversations about the impact of Brexit on football with all the parties involved.”

Under existing immigration rules, non-EU players have to secure a governing body endorsement (GBE) to receive a permit, using a points-based system relating to a player’s transfer fee, wages, international caps and his national team’s Fifa ranking.

The Premier League wants that to be scrapped and replaced with what would be an effective exemption that would allow a permit for any overseas player offered a contract.

That would do little to help promote opportunities for young English players, and arguably would promote more overseas arrivals by opening the door to young South American and African players who, as things stand, cannot get a permit until they win senior international caps.

The FA does understand the value of the Premier League clubs to its own TV rights and, as previously revealed by The Times, as part of its attempts to reach an agreement has also proposed an overhaul of the loan system that would limit loans between top-flight clubs to British and Irish players after Brexit.

Last year, Clarke spelt out his vision of English football post-Brexit, saying: “What we want to do is find a sensible way round that works for a post-Brexit Britain, that works for employment law and the government, and works for the Premier League and works for the FA.

“It won’t be an open-door policy; it won’t be no foreigners; it will be, ‘Let’s let world-class Premier League teams bring in world-class players but not average international players.’

“There has to be sensible centre ground where world-class players are welcomed in the Premier League but not journeymen who are displacing the young English talent coming through and are hopefully the future of the English national game and the international game and can’t get in the first team.”

 

[michaelden]

Well we're not going to be any European Super Club Championship after Brexit is we can only sign homegrown talent.

Aside from players though, what about foreign staff like coaches, managers, etc... will work permit applications be stricter than before?

No working visa unless you've managed your country... ?

 

[Spurs' Pipe Dreams]

I'm torn, whilst I agree that English talent should be protected for the future of the England team and the English game, there is a reason why the Premier League is the best league in the world and that in part is because smaller teams can afford to pay good to average players from the EU to cover deficiencies in their youth system, we are all aware that Chelsea, City and United stockpile youth footballers to the detriment of both the player and the lower financially able clubs.

Tricky.....

 

['O Zio]

I'm not sure it's up to the PL to dictate how our immigration policy works to be honest. If you run a business and want to hire a non-EU person, you have to jump through all kinds of expensive and time-consuming hoops so why should a football player just be allowed to bypass the immigration process altogether and walk right into employment with a club?

 

[Johnny J]

I'm not sure it's up to the PL to dictate how our immigration policy works to be honest. If you run a business and want to hire a non-EU person, you have to jump through all kinds of expensive and time-consuming hoops so why should a football player just be allowed to bypass the immigration process altogether and walk right into employment with a club?

The PL will lobby for their desired outcome, but you're right in that this is ultimately a matter for government.

I think there is little chance of the PL's proposal being implemented, though.

 

[Saoirse]

I'd be astonished if the government get involved. Right now they follow what the FA decides and I'm sure it'll stay that way. The PL can lobby as much as they like: hopefully the FA have some balls, put home-grown talent first, and give the national team a better chance of competing.

 

[EmperorKabir]

In terms of our personal opinions, there will be a divide based on those who care more about the national side and those who care about the club.

For me personally, I care much more about Spurs based mainly on the fact that their games are more frequent and I'm more involved with them in that I go to almost all their matches. The second reason is that the quality on display of premier league football, (albeit funded by corrupt dodgy billionaires at the very top), is essentially near dream team football, which for me, is more entertaining to watch than international football where there are weaknesses within each team, (relative to high level club football).

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see England win a big tournament, but I absolutely do not want, (again, just my personal preference), to see the club game be 'limited' to help the national side.

Then you'll have others that will say the national side is the big pride point and unites the nation etc etc and I can respect that view too.



Scudamore I think is stepping down soon and he was a great one for standing up to the FA and essentially saying to them, 'I am responsible for the Premier league, NOT to the FA, so you can all do one and stop telling me how to do things for you.' I liked that side of him.

What happens next under the change of the guard in the Premier League remains to be seen.

 

[whitesocks]

Wenger had no problem signing non-EU, uncapped players - the home office will not interfere with the premiership in practice. Well not often. Certainly not for their fave teams anyway.

What the FA want to do can be achieved by increasing the homegrown quota, but they need to have a rethink when players who are selected for England - captain England even, can be effectively discriminated against with this system.

 

['O Zio]

Wenger had no problem signing non-EU, uncapped players - the home office will not interfere with the premiership in practice. Well not often. Certainly not for their fave teams anyway.

What the FA want to do can be achieved by increasing the homegrown quota, but they need to have a rethink when players who are selected for England - captain England even, can be effectively discriminated against with this system.

Yeah if the whole point in the HG quota is to benefit the national team then they need to change the rules to be e.g. someone who is born a British citizen is automatically HG regardless of which club's academy they come through. As you say, it's stupid that e.g. Dier is not HG because he trained with Sporting even though he's captained the England team before, while someone like Cesc Fabregas counts as HG because Arsenal poached him from Barca at 16.

 

[CowInAComa]

Literally give zero fucks about quotas and promoting homegrown players.

A football is a footballer, who cares where he is born . No one cares that Eriksen comes from Denmark rather than Dagenham.

 

[tototoner]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45206066

Brexit could have 'hugely damaging' effect on football clubs, say chairmen

Brexit could be "hugely damaging" to English football, claim two chairmen.

Burnley chairman Mike Garlick says uncertainty over a deal with the European Union is already making it harder for clubs to sign players.

Stoke chairman Peter Coates added that the Premier League could be hit by freedom-of-movement restrictions.

"The destructive Brexit path being pursued by the government threatens to have a hugely damaging effect on clubs across the country," said Garlick.

"It threatens to make the widening inequality gap in our top division even worse.

"The hit to the value of the pound against the euro, largely caused by Brexit uncertainty, is already making it harder for clubs to sign players.

"And ending freedom of movement will make it much more difficult for teams to attract the right talent, if the government brings in more restrictive conditions for work visas for players from Europe."

Voters in Burnley and Stoke both backed Britain's exit from the EU - 67% of voters in Burnley said they wanted to leave, while the figure was 69% in Stoke.

In a letter released on Wednesday responding to questions over freedom of movement, Sport Minister Tracey Crouch said the government "absolutely recognises the value of sport to the UK" and "is determined to ensure that our sport sector continues to flourish".

Currently, players from the EU are allowed to play professional football in England as part of freedom-of-movement rules, while those from outside the EU need work permits.

The government is in negotiations with the EU over an agreement on the future relationship between the two - if negotiations fail, it could mean a "no deal" Brexit, which may jeopardise those freedom-of-movement rules.

Crouch added that the government's white paper - which outlines its position on Brexit - sets out its ambition to "negotiate a framework for mobility" that will end free movement, but enable people to continue to travel in Europe.

Stoke chairman Coates, whose family's Bet365 Group contributed £250,000 to the Remain campaign before the 2016 referendum, said he wanted the best for the Championship club but that "it's hard to seed how a botched Brexit will help".

"The negative consequences are plain for all to see," he added.

"The fall in the value of the pound that we've already seen, as well as the risk to our country's economic prosperity, cannot be brushed under the carpet.

"Depending on the Brexit deal, the Premier League, one of our country's success stories, could be damaged by freedom-of-movement restrictions. This could also affect the Championship.

"If this goes badly, it will be places like Stoke that suffer the most."

 

[Geyzer Soze]

"If this goes badly, it will be places like Stoke that suffer the most."

So it’s not all doom & gloom then

 

[nailsy]

I don't agree that we should just let in anyone. There should be some criteria that players have to meet before getting a work permit.

 

['O Zio]

Literally give zero fucks about quotas and promoting homegrown players.

A football is a footballer, who cares where he is born . No one cares that Eriksen comes from Denmark rather than Dagenham.

The trouble is whether you give a shit about it or not, those are the rules so the club have to adhere to them