FIFA eligibility rules

[Bruce Ramsay]

Hi Bruce


Hi Bruce Ramsay

Article 6 paragraph 3 states that participation for an football association in an official competition in any category (e.g. "A" or youth) and in any type of football (e.g. football, futsal, or beach soccer) ties the player to that football association unless they meet one of the exceptions in Article 10.

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There are 5 specific exceptions in Article 10 covering common scenarios.

Scenario 1: where a player was fielded in an official competition (except "A" level) and held the nationality of their potential new association at the time they were first fielded by their current association (prior to 2020 this was the only exception)

Scenario 2: where a player was fielded in an official competition (except "A" level) and they did not hold the nationality of their potential new association at the time they were first fielded by their current association

Scenario 3: where a player was fielded in an official competition at "A" level (in this case there are 5 criteria that must be met to benefit from this exception)

Scenario 4: where a player wants to represent a new football association admitted to FIFA membership but the player has already represented another association in an official competition

Scenario 5: where a player was fielded in an official competition at "A" level and they permanently lose their nationality without consent / against their will due to a decision by a government authority

Thanks James. Appreciated.

I have misunderstood your original comment. I took it that you were referring to the 5 criteria set out in Scenario 3. Rather than to the 5 Scenarios themselves.

 

[Bruce Ramsay]

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Based off the above - what I' mean is that the 'and' being used to say "all these conditions apply" within each breakdown, and now between all of them. If that makes sense? I'm probably being a bit confusing, but that's how these kinds of legal documents tend to work.

Nic. Thanks. James has now clarified for me the meaning of his comment re Volpato and Arena. I misunderstood his reference.

 

[jrvkfootball]

Nic. Thanks. James has now clarified for me the meaning of his comment re Volpato and Arena. I misunderstood his reference.

In this scenario, here is relevant wording from FIFA:

 

[Bruce Ramsay]

Thanks James.

 

[NicCarBel]

Nic. Thanks. James has now clarified for me the meaning of his comment re Volpato and Arena. I misunderstood his reference.

There's a lot of things to clarify in these docs, so makes perfect sense how you got to that conclusion though. I only realised the 'changing association once' regulation over the weekend.

I mean.. it's come a long way from having Tim Cahill blocked from playing for us because of his youth matches, and no way around it. I think at the moment we've hit a good medium of flexibility, but also tying in permanently. There'll be times when it's abused/loosely interpreted of course (as James is hinting at with Arena) - but I think overall we are quite ok.

 

[Bruce Ramsay]

There's a lot of things to clarify in these docs, so makes perfect sense how you got to that conclusion though. I only realised the 'changing association once' regulation over the weekend.

I mean.. it's come a long way from having Tim Cahill blocked from playing for us because of his youth matches, and no way around it. I think at the moment we've hit a good medium of flexibility, but also tying in permanently. There'll be times when it's abused/loosely interpreted of course (as James is hinting at with Arena) - but I think overall we are quite ok.

Yeah, I agree with you that we should be ok. The Rules make sense and were brought in to help stop and prevent outright "rorting" and exploitation of vulnerable young players, especially from less-developed football countries.

My misunderstanding of James' comment on your original post basically stemmed from my past postings here re the Change of Association Rules. I had the mindset, because of all my previous posts in response to questions/comments here by other posters, that he was referring to the 5 criteria that are required by one of the scenarios whereby a player may be eligible to Change Association. My closed mindset didn't permit me to see that he was actually talking about the 5 Scenarios themselves.

I just got blinkered unfortunately, because I've become so accustomed to commenting when people still repeat such things as the "3 caps and he is ours" myth and other misunderstandings about a players eligibility to be tied to a nationality and eligibility to change Association.

My apologies and appreciation to both you and James for your patience and responses to me. I'm just an old, retired guy now and I'm out of practice at making sure I've fully understood the question and issue, before jumping in with a response. One of the joys of losing the sharpness of mind that advancing years and lengthy retirement brings!

 

[NicCarBel]

Yeah, I agree with you that we should be ok. The Rules make sense and were brought in to help stop and prevent outright "rorting" and exploitation of vulnerable young players, especially from less-developed football countries.

My misunderstanding of James' comment on your original post basically stemmed from my past postings here re the Change of Association Rules. I had the mindset, because of all my previous posts in response to questions/comments here by other posters, that he was referring to the 5 criteria that are required by one of the scenarios whereby a player may be eligible to Change Association. My closed mindset didn't permit me to see that he was actually talking about the 5 Scenarios themselves.

I just got blinkered unfortunately, because I've become so accustomed to commenting when people still repeat such things as the "3 caps and he is ours" myth and other misunderstandings about a players eligibility to be tied to a nationality and eligibility to change Association.

My apologies and appreciation to both you and James for your patience and responses to me. I'm just an old, retired guy now and I'm out of practice at making sure I've fully understood the question and issue, before jumping in with a response. One of the joys of losing the sharpness of mind that advancing years and lengthy retirement brings!

No need to apologise!

I'm pretty sure I had the same blinkered understanding until the weekend as well

 

[grazorblade]

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.

welcome!
Would love to have you on the pod sometime!

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Imagine if Morocco made their own talent:




Lost nobody too.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

There’s been a lot of talk about Dutch players unable to make the Oranje playing for other countries. Here's a breakdown of how many players (male and female) the Netherlands has lost to other countries in 2025 and 2026 (note that many such as most of the Indonesian players switched earlier):

Country	Players
Cape Verde	1​
Curaçao	5​
Dominican Republic	3​
Guinea	1​
Indonesia	1​
Morocco	8​
Suriname	10​
Total	29​

Gained nobody though. France similarly lost 20 players but gained zero.

 

[HonestSpursFan]

Big news out of Holland:

"Paspoortgate" barst los in Nederland: 25 spelers (onder wie ex-Antwerpenaar Chery) blijken niet speelgerechtigd | sporza

"Paspoortgate" houdt het Nederlandse voetbal momenteel in zijn greep. Eén klacht over een niet-speelgerechtigde heeft namelijk een heus domino-effect in de Eredivisie in gang gezet. Zo zouden 25 spelers en speelsters, onder wie Tjaronn Chery (ex-Antwerp), in hetzelfde schuitje zitten. En dat...

sporza.be

In the Netherlands, you automatically lose Dutch citizenship if you acquire another nationality unless you were born in that country, lived there for more than five years since turning 18 or are married to someone from there. This means that Dutch players switching to other non-EU countries are counted as non-EU players and thus don’t have appropriate work permits.

 

[NicCarBel]

Big news out of Holland:

"Paspoortgate" barst los in Nederland: 25 spelers (onder wie ex-Antwerpenaar Chery) blijken niet speelgerechtigd | sporza

"Paspoortgate" houdt het Nederlandse voetbal momenteel in zijn greep. Eén klacht over een niet-speelgerechtigde heeft namelijk een heus domino-effect in de Eredivisie in gang gezet. Zo zouden 25 spelers en speelsters, onder wie Tjaronn Chery (ex-Antwerp), in hetzelfde schuitje zitten. En dat...

sporza.be

In the Netherlands, you automatically lose Dutch citizenship if you acquire another nationality unless you were born in that country, lived there for more than five years since turning 18 or are married to someone from there. This means that Dutch players switching to other non-EU countries are counted as non-EU players and thus don’t have appropriate work permits.

when you say 'lived there', do you mean, lived in the other country (not Netherlands)?

 

[HonestSpursFan]

when you say 'lived there', do you mean, lived in the other country (not Netherlands)?

The other country. Some countries don’t automatically grant citizenship to people born there (jus soli, “right of soil”) while others don’t and require parents to be citizens or permanent residents (jus sanguinis, “right of blood”). Australia has restricted jus soli, meaning at least one parent has to be a citizen or permanent resident when the child is born for the kid to also be a citizen.

Indonesia does not have birthright citizenship, so if an Indonesian is born to two Dutch parents who aren’t citizens then the person isn’t an Indonesian citizen, but can apply for it without having their Dutch citizenship renounced.