"Maximum Foreign Players" Rules Thread

millossobek

millossobek

The 3-Stars Cup
19 December 2020
South America
Millonarios FC
Hi bros! I've been thinking of starting this thread for a while.

The idea is basically very simple: Let's post here a compilation of "Foreign Players Rules" in different leagues around the world. By this I mean maximum number of foreign players allowed per team, depending on the league!

The reason for this is because some of us like to play Master Leagues with some realistic rules, and this seems like a nice rule to follow.

I can mention some off the top of my head:

- Colombia: Maximum of 4 foreign players per team. Maximum 3 foreign players on the pitch at the same time.

- Peru: Maximum of 5 foreign players per team. Maximum of 5 foreign players on the pitch at the same time.

- Argentina: Maximum of 6 foreign players per team. Maximum of 5 foreign players in the matchday squad.

- Japan: No limit on foreign players per team. Maximum of 5 foreign players in the matchday squad. However, players from J-League's partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) do not come under this criteria.

- Korea: Maximum of 5 foreign players per team. One of these foreigners must be from an AFC nation and one from an ASEAN country. All the registered players are allowed in the starting lineup.

And so on and so forth. I think this would be really helpful. Right now, I am looking for the rules for Spain, specifically the Spanish second division.

Hopefully this thread will be helpful! :TU: We can start compiling the rules here.
 
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Nice idea mate!

I'll get it kicked off with a league that no one plays :LOL:

Australian A-league - 5 foreign players .. but this is the most multicultural league ever :))

An A-League squad must comprise a minimum of 20 players with a maximum of 26, subject to several limitations. Within the squad, there can be a maximum of five "foreign" or "Visa" players, from outside Australia (and New Zealand, in the case of Wellington Phoenix), that hold a temporary working-visa. Three players in the squad must also be under 20 years of age. In addition to these three under 20 players, clubs are allowed to sign an additional three youth players onto full-time contracts at a lower pay rate than the rest of the squad.

Turkish Super League - :LMAO: This one changes every year.. literally.

As of right now you can have a maximum of 14 foreign players. You can only play 8 of these players at once.

2022-2023 season will see the number drop to 12, with 7 players in the line-up at any time.
2023-2024 season will drop again to 10 foreign players, and 6 in the line-up.

They are apparently trying to improve the quality of the homegrown players this way.
But in my opinion, clubs should first fix their business models, start actually playing our promising youngsters! Stop signing aging "stars" (EDIT: I'm looking directly at Ryan Babel :RANT: ) & spend the money on proper youth facilities!

Anyway, that's my 2 cents! Carry on thread!
 
I'm reading about the Homegrown Player Rule in England, although I am not sure if it is implemented yet, here was a proposal (taken from wikipedia):
  • Homegrown players in a top-flight 25-man squad be increased from eight to 12 two of whom must be brought up in the team's youth system
  • Tightening the definition of what it is to be a homegrown player as a consequence fewer foreign-born players would qualify

Foreign-born, home-grown​

Currently, to be classified as homegrown one must be on an English team for at least three years before the age of twenty-one which Dyke wanted to reduce to eighteen. This would mean that a teenager would have to start at the club by the age of fifteen at the latest and, since players are not allowed to move across national boundaries before sixteen (except under exceptional circumstances), this would mean fewer foreign players could qualify as homegrown.

Each season the Premier League lists the squads for each of its clubs for the season on 1 September (after the summer transfer window closes). Each club is able to list up to 17 senior players that are not English or Welsh and did not spend a significant period in an English or Welsh academy, plus any number of homegrown players up to a maximum squad size of 25, plus an unlimited number of academy and under-21 players.
 
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I'm very sure there are no restrictions in Scotland. However, we've always been hampered by work permit issues in that regard, and even more so now since all the daft racists voted for Brexit.

A really good article on the subject: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/sports/soccer/scotland-football-brexit.html

Highlights how difficult it will be for SPFL and lower league English clubs to recruit from abroad.
 
Maybe someone who is familiarized with the Premier League and Football League Championship could give us the specifics on the foreign players rules? I've found several conflicting guidelines but not the actual current rules, thanks.. Perhaps @mattmid can give us a hand, thanks!
 
In the Premier League, potentially all of them can be foreign if they circumvent the 'homegrown player' rules!

https://goalballlive.com/premier-league-homegrown-rule/

Not sure with EFL but I believe they won't be able to sign foreign players under 18 unless they would qualify to work here anyway - so presumably would have to be youth internationals etc and you'd imagine most of those would be snapped up by Premier League teams anyway. For older players I believe the rules are the same as the Premier but of course other than lesser international teams, clubs in the EFL are unlikely to be signing international players.
 
mattmid said:
In the Premier League, potentially all of them can be foreign if they circumvent the 'homegrown player' rules!

https://goalballlive.com/premier-league-homegrown-rule/

Not sure with EFL but I believe they won't be able to sign foreign players under 18 unless they would qualify to work here anyway - so presumably would have to be youth internationals etc and you'd imagine most of those would be snapped up by Premier League teams anyway. For older players I believe the rules are the same as the Premier but of course other than lesser international teams, clubs in the EFL are unlikely to be signing international players.
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The work permit rules are way stricter than I thought, having read that NY Times article. Ojala is a bit of a coup for a club like Motherwell - a guaranteed first team player. Whereas an EPL team could sign a Croatian international with no obstacles and stick him on the bench.
 
millossobek said:
China - A club can register four foreign players at most at the same time and use three foreign players at most in a match. :TU:

I thought it would be way more, actually.
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Keep in mind , that they can convert players to Chinese, more easily than other countries. Like Fernandinho C. and Elkeson of Guangzhou Evergrande .

Fernandinho became Fei Nanduo:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernandinho_(footballer,_born_March_1993)

and Elkeson, who in Chinese, is still named Elkeson lol :)

Or Emerson Sheik who turned Qatarian, when he practically had played 2 consecutive seasons in Qatar.
 
Also i studied the institutional rules of Greek Football Federation, to contribute to the thread, but it's written as every other Greek law, meaning, if ten people read, all ten of them will understand something different :)

For the record let's say, Greek and EU players have no limit, foreigners outside EU are allowed 8 and only 5 per match squad.

Now this if for football thoughts topic, but most teams using this EU-exploit, are usually fielding starting 11s with 2 or max 3 Greek players.
 
mattmid said:
If every league had a 3 max foreign players rules then we might get back to more interesting European competitions.



As I read that I had a vision of some evil henchman from a B-Movie with the player chained to an operating table as they converted his nationality. :LOL:
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Agree 100%...That's why i said it, EU-exploit. That Bosman rulling, maybe havr made easier for players from some EU countries to find a job, but it stripped totally any ID and character from teams.

The local team from my a hometown, a small city of 80,000 (big for Greek standards) was so immerse, a tradition to go every Sunday to their matches, back in the 90s, when the rule was strictly 3 foreigners max.

I remember 1997, the starting GK, LB and CF were all living in my old old neighborhood. It was like a ritual.

Since it became 23 mercenaries, it lost the connection point to the city. I mean if thevlvclub isn't winning silverware, its only source of power is the fans loyalty.
 
Actually I don't mind an international squad, as long as the players themselves feel connected to the club, and they have a sense of continuity with the team.

Let's say for example you have 5 foreigners and 6 local players in a squad, if they stay in the same team for a long time, I feel like fans will support them no matter what their nationality is.. I think it's more a question of continuity. :TU:
 
millossobek said:
Actually I don't mind an international squad, as long as the players themselves feel connected to the club, and they have a sense of continuity with the team.

Let's say for example you have 5 foreigners and 6 local players in a squad, if they stay in the same team for a long time, I feel like fans will support them no matter what their nationality is.. I think it's more a question of continuity. :TU:
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Basically, i dont have problem with nationalities per se. It is a combination of "modern football" consequences, like players are strictly professionals, don't feel as teams history representatives, and regarding smaller clubs are leagues, they just it as a step to the next bigger club.

When every 2~3 years, you change almost 90% of your roster, there is no connection that can be created.
 
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Just found this on twitter, courtesy of https://twitter.com/CLvis91 :TU:

Very interesting! Here's a table of all foreign players (new arrivals, possible departures, and arrival rumours) in the K-League!

millossobek said:
- Korea: Maximum of 5 foreign players per team. One of these foreigners must be from an AFC nation and one from an ASEAN country. All the registered players are allowed in the starting lineup.
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I think this table is great because it divides the foreign players into the different slots, following the above rule!
 
- Chile: You can only have 5 foreign players in your team.
Extra rules: The number on the jerseys can't be higher than the number of players in your team. (25 players = you can't give the number 26 to somebody) and you have to use young players (sub-21) for at least 70% of the time of matches per season. If they played only for 65,1% to 69,9%, you lose 3 points and get fined. 60,1% to 65% = less 6 points, >60% makes you lose 9 points.
 
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I've looked at several sources for Foreign Transfer Rules in Italy, but haven't been able to find anything conclusive.

Is there anyone who knows what Serie A and Serie B rules are like? Much appreciated. :TU:
 
Joga said:
They are apparently trying to improve the quality of the homegrown players this way.
But in my opinion, clubs should first fix their business models, start actually playing our promising youngsters! Stop signing aging "stars" (EDIT: I'm looking directly at Ryan Babel :RANT: ) & spend the money on proper youth facilities!

Anyway, that's my 2 cents! Carry on thread!
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That's the actual problem we got in Italy, more than before... It was more or less the same number of foreign players, but mixed with Italian who learned stuffs with big stars and started to play better and better, with some exceptions but those ones where all at Juventus lol;
It always been the skeleton for the Nazionale. Not anymore when i see their starting 11 each week :(

The CR7 effect killed them but not the way people think (due to the money spend, not at all). Don't think he decreased the team strength at the time, but i watched game and he was alone to run everywhere, like if the coach sayed "you got a good stamina you will do the work for 4 players. And you 4 guys, don't move and focus on your position, passing and shooting)
His presence completely changed the Juventus mind where everyone was the same, superstar or not, and did the same job.

While in the same time, tons of promising youths are loaned to Serie C anb B teams.
 
https://www.goal.com/en/news/indian...op-18-asian-leagues/jdc9skytcp6416b6fhz1ihhg2

Just found this very useful article: Foreign players transfer rules for all the top Asian leagues! :TU:

For example, Saudi Arabia: The Saudi Professional League (SPL) is the most liberal league in Asia in terms of allowing foreign players to ply their trade in the league. The SPL clubs can register as many as eight foreigners but one of them has to be of Saudi Arabian origin. Seven foreign players are allowed in the starting lineup.
 
millossobek said:
I've looked at several sources for Foreign Transfer Rules in Italy, but haven't been able to find anything conclusive.

Is there anyone who knows what Serie A and Serie B rules are like? Much appreciated. :TU:
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I've researched this myself some time ago, I'm not sure it's a hundred percent right, but I think it should be close.
Most of this comes from Football Manager 22.

Serie A
- Foreign Player Rule: You should have a minimum of three foreign players in your squad
- You can buy non-EU players from Italian clubs without restrictions
- If on the 30th June you have 3 or more non-EU players in your squad (including those with an expiring contract, excluding loans), you can only register 2 new non-EU players in the next season, on the following conditions:
* You can register one, without replacing another, if the player got at least 5 national team caps (includes U21 if the player is under 21) or got called up for his national team twice in the last season
* You can register one, if you transfer another non-EU player to a foreign club or his contract expires or gains European citizenship (one fulfilled condition means an additional non-EU spot)
- If on the 30th June you have 2 non-EU players in your squad (including those with an expiring contract, excluding loans), you can register 2 new non-EU players in the next season, one of them is not limited by any restrictions, while the other can only be registered if you transfer another non-EU player to a foreign club or his contract expires or gains European citizenship
- If on the 30th June you have non or 1 non-EU players in your squad (including those with an expiring contract, excluding loans), you can register 3 new non-EU players in the next season and they are not limited by any restrictions
 
Interesting! @jovic1901 It's quite a complicated system, but one thing that I found unusual is that you have to have a minimum of 3 foreign players! Will try to apply these to ML! I'm guessing the system for Serie B is quite similar! Thanks :TU:
 
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