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FIFA eligibility rules

HonestSpursFan

HonestSpursFan

Club Legend
Joined
Aug 31, 2025
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Just figured out the totals of the UAE national team that were not born in the UAE. 24 of their players were born overseas but were eligible via FIFA eligibility rules because they played enough years in the UAE Pro League to switch because they were obviously never good enough for their own national teams. Yes the UAE is a nation of immigrants but few if any of them have actual connections to the UAE. Of those 24, 13 were born in Brazil, two each were born in Argentina, Ghana and Morocco, and one each was born in Croatia, England, Ivory Coast, Portugal and Tunisia.

Should FIFA do something they're never gonna do and change the eligibility rules so you have to spend a longer amount of time in a country or have a connection by birth or parents/grandparents? 24 players without any connection to the UAE other than playing a few years there is ridiculous, and I bet that none of them other than the Moroccan and the Tunisian can speak Arabic (unless there's any actual immigrants in there).
 
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Just checked Qatar. They have 19 (four each from Egypt and Iraq, two each from Algeria and Brazil, and one each from Belgium, France, Ghana, Iran, Portugal, Senegal and Uruguay). The Uruguayan striker (Sebastián Soria) is 42 and has 124 caps (with 39 goals), making him their third most capped player of all time despite not being Qatari (he was born in Paysandú and developed in the Uruguayan football system).

Bahrain is much better. They have three: two Nigerians and a Moroccan. Both Nigerians (Moses Atede and Vincent Emmanuel) immigrated to Bahrain and began his career there (and has never played in Nigeria) while Amine Beddadi was born, raised and developed in Morocco but was never making their national team and was eligible because he spent 11 years playing in the Bahraini Premier League for Budaiya and Muharraq.
 
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What started as a bit of a novelty has turned into a ridiculous policy by UAE and Qatar. Aspire academy my arse and no, Australia doesn't do it the same in regards to our selection policies.

China have Brazilians ffs.
 
HappyGuus said:
Great digging there. What are the rules these days, is it like living there for five unbroken years?
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Per the FIFA eligibility rules you need to have lived at least five consecutive years after turning 18. That's how got Bruno Fornaroli (who also became an Aussie citizen but was born in Uruguay) and why we should be able to get Kayla Morrison (who is also an Aussie citizen, born in the US).

Is five years really enough to demonstrate a clear connection to a country? I mean sure, I lived three years in New Caledonia so I have some connection, I also spent a year in New Zealand. But I'm not a citizen and I wasn't born and raised there.

Funnily enough back in 2004 FIFA actually changed the rules because the QFA were caught bribing uncapped players with zero connections to Qatar to play for the national team. 22 years later and they're still doing it.
 
JS96 said:
What started as a bit of a novelty has turned into a ridiculous policy by UAE and Qatar. Aspire academy my arse and no, Australia doesn't do it the same in regards to our selection policies.

China have Brazilians ffs.
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Speaking of China: 100% of their national team plays in the Chinese Super League (CSL), but they've got two Brazilians, an Englishman and a Norwegian playing for them.
 
erogenouszone said:
Look at what Indonesia did as well recently with that Dutch player farce. Ridiculous.
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At least they had Indonesian descent though. Same as with Curaçao whose team is almost all Dutch. China, Qatar and the UAE are calling up Brazilians who just want to play at a major tournament but obviously were never making the Seleção. A total of 17 Brazilians now play for China, Qatar or the UAE.
I
Speaking of Dutch players, Joël Piroe from Leeds United is apparently switching to Suriname because obviously the Oranje aren't calling him up and Suriname are going all in for the World Cup playoffs. Decent player, won the Championship Golden Boot with Leeds last season, should be a good pickup for them as they try to make the World Cup. His dad is an Indo-Surinamese Muslim.
 
As for cases like Curaçao and Indonesia where diaspora play for the national team, Malta could try and do the same with Australia. 200,000 Maltese live in this country.

The men's teams probably aren't interested but the women's teams of Croatia and Serbia could probably also be improved by Aussies. A couple have already made the switch. Laura Hughes at Melbourne City who had only one Matildas cap switched to Wales too.
 
Sorry - just found this for the first time.

Yeah, there's always going to be ways around it. But essentially the crux is, as long you hold a nationality (generally defined by being able to obtain a passport), FIFA accept it. I don't believe there's a specific time in the FIFA statutes anymore on this from what I've just read. But essentially, as long it's confirmed with FIFA that the nationality/citizenship being granted is permanent, then it will be accepted.

... where nationality is “acquired…by undertaking a naturalisation process”. The phrase “naturalisation process” is interpreted broadly to mean any case aside from an automatic grant where nationality is acquired through the operation of a national law.
12. This may include, without limitation, acquisition of nationality through:
12.1 marriage;
12.2 the decision of a government official, body, or monarch;
12.3 a defined period of physical residence;
12.4 a defined amount of financial investment;
12.5 the fulfilment of substantial preconditions where a player is eligible to obtain a nationality.
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The “nationality” held by a player must be both:
16.1 “permanent”, in that it is not automatically lost or invalidated following a decision by the player to change his domicile; and
16.2 not conditional on the basis of maintaining a domicile in a certain country.
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NicCarBel said:
Sorry - just found this for the first time.

Yeah, there's always going to be ways around it. But essentially the crux is, as long you hold a nationality (generally defined by being able to obtain a passport), FIFA accept it. I don't believe there's a specific time in the FIFA statutes anymore on this from what I've just read. But essentially, as long it's confirmed with FIFA that the nationality/citizenship being granted is permanent, then it will be accepted.
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FIFA published an explainer video when the eligibility rules were changed which should in theory make the process easier to understand.
 
A summary of the eligibility rules from @scout_aussie recent dual national article

The rules
First, it is necessary to understand the eligibility rules introduced by FIFA in 2020. There are two relevant sections of these rules: the section explaining what qualifies a player to represent a country, and the section explaining what allows a player to change association, from one country to another. The first section is simpler than the second. A player must be a citizen of the country they want to represent. In addition to holding citizenship, a player must fulfil one of two requirements: either they, their parents or their grandparents were born in that country, or they have lived in that country for five years continuously. Australia has been both a winner and a loser from these rules in recent years. While Bruno Fornaroli was able to play for the Socceroos due to having lived in Australia continuously for five years, talented young players like Noah Clément (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jason Vescan-Kodor (Lecce), both Australian citizens, have been prevented from representing Australia due to not fulfilling either the birthright or residence requirements.

The change of association rules are more complex. A player is eligible to change association in several circumstances. The most relevant circumstance for Australian football is the circumstance in which a player, fulfilling both of the above requirements, has represented another country at youth international level in a competitive tournament. Such tournaments include youth World Cups, Olympics, youth confederation cup (eg. underage Euros/Asian Cups) or any tournaments or events which qualify teams for those tournaments. If a player has represented another country in such a tournament, then they are provisionally bound to that country. They can only represent Australia thereafter if they complete a one-time change of association to Australia. This is what Nectar Triantis completed to play for Greece. In contrast, while Alessandro Circati had played for Italy at U20 level, he never represented Italy in a competitive tournament, so he did not need to complete a one-time switch. Cristian Volpato, having represented Italy at competitive youth level, would need to complete a one-time switch.

The other circumstances become more and more obscure and none have arisen in recent years for Australia. A player who has represented a country in a senior competitive international while eligible for another country is eligible to change their association if the following four requirements are fulfilled:

They played no more than three senior internationals for the first country;

They played their last competitive game for that country, at any level, before they turned 21;

They did not play in a World Cup or a confederation tournament (Asian Cup, Euros); and

Three years have passed since they last played a senior international for the first country.

No Australians with Socceroos potential fall into this category, so it is not really relevant. There are other circumstances, but as mentioned, they are obscure and do not seem likely to eventuate.
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aussiescout.substack.com

How should Australia approach dual-national recruitment?

Players with dual eligibility have become a vexed issue in Australian football over recent years. This is how Australia should deal with them.
aussiescout.substack.com aussiescout.substack.com
 
HonestSpursFan said:
Thanks! I mostly made this to point out Qatar and the UAE’s dodgy moves lol. China to an extent does the same.
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I think Qatar was the catalyst. There was a funny line in the explainer about FIFA's updated definition on naturalising

In 2007, FIFA discovered that a particular country had granted nationality to players which was valid “only for as long as they remain resident in the country and (sic) lose that status if they leave the country permanently.”
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Howdy. I am new to the forum but a long time lurker.

I'm James Kitching, former Director of Regulatory at FIFA, from Adelaide (don't hold either against me!).

I tweet occasionally here: https://x.com/jrvkfootball

I oversaw the new eligibility rules passed at the FIFA Congress in 2020 - happy to answer any questions as to how they operate - or any questions at all about global football governance.
 
jrvkfootball said:
Howdy. I am new to the forum but a long time lurker.

I'm James Kitching, former Director of Regulatory at FIFA, from Adelaide (don't hold either against me!).

I tweet occasionally here: https://x.com/jrvkfootball

I oversaw the new eligibility rules passed at the FIFA Congress in 2020 - happy to answer any questions as to how they operate - or any questions at all about global football governance.
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Howdy and welcome.

Only one opening question for an Adelaidian football fan... Juve or Hellas?
 
jrvkfootball said:
Howdy. I am new to the forum but a long time lurker.

I'm James Kitching, former Director of Regulatory at FIFA, from Adelaide (don't hold either against me!).

I tweet occasionally here: https://x.com/jrvkfootball

I oversaw the new eligibility rules passed at the FIFA Congress in 2020 - happy to answer any questions as to how they operate - or any questions at all about global football governance.
Click to expand...
When will Kayla Morrison finally be allowed to switch?
 
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