Part 1: Multiple Nationality Football Players – Eligibility ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟโฝ๏ธ
Football players who are eligible to play for more than one country are usually left confused and conflicted about which country to play for.
โDo I play for my country of birth or do I play for my country of origin?โ.
I have even come across scenarios where mum and dad have different nationalities, leaving the player with three potential options ๐ ๐
But what in your opinion should a player take into consideration before making this important decision?
Probably the first thing to figure out is which countries he is eligible to play for.
According to the FIFA Statutes, โAny person holding a permanent nationality that is not dependent on residence in a certain country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the association of that country.โ This basically means that for a country like the UK which has separate Member Associations, a player holding permanent nationality may be able to play for England ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ, Scotland ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, Wales ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ, Northern Ireland (and I believe a few others).
PS – Holding a nationality and being eligible to obtain a nationality arenโt the same thing. If you hold a nationality you were either born in the territory or naturalised (you are a legal citizen of the country although you were not born there).
A little confusing I know, but stick with me ๐ โฆ
So letโs say a footballer, Chinedu was born and has always lived in the UK, but also naturalised as a Nigerian. This would mean he holds permanent nationalities of two countries and would potentially be allowed to play in an international match for one of these associations.
However, it is not automatic as Chinedu must also satisfy one of the conditions below:
(a) he must have been born on the territory of the relevant association; (in our scenario it’s ENGLAND ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ) OR
(b) his biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association; (NIGERIA ๐ณ๐ฌ) OR
(c) his grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association; (NIGERIA ๐ณ๐ฌ) OR
(d) he has lived on the territory of the relevant association for at least five years (ENGLAND ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ).
As you can see, Chinedu satisfied the criteria to play for Nigeria โ and England โ .
As always, things may not be as straightforward as the example able so any issues relating to eligibility or changes of association may be submitted to the Football Tribunal.
Now that eligibility has been established, how should Chinedu decide which out of the two countries to play for? ๐ค. This is a topic that can get quite heatedโฆ ๐ฅ๐
Letโs discuss this in Part 2 – Sense v. Sentiments ๐๐ฝ
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