Fifa may consider changing rules that govern a player’s eligibility to play for a national team, according to a report by BBC Sport.
Existing rules dictate that a footballer who has played at the senior-most level for any national side cannot represent another team but with immigration and newly emerging nations dynamically affecting nationalities, the rules could be in for a revamp.
The Fifa stakeholders’ committee may look into changing the cooling-off period for footballers to represent a country, to which they have no blood connection/familial bonds.
Victor Montagliani, head of the committee and president of CONCACAF confederation representing North and Central America as well as the Carribean region was quoted as saying, “There are so many issues that have popped up. The world is changing. Immigration is changing. There are nationality issues that pop up all over the world - in Africa, [and] there are issues in Asia and Concacaf. So it’s a good time to have a look at this and see if there are solutions without hurting the integrity of the game.”
According to Montagliani, the cool-off period, currently standing at five years, may be in line for a change and could be extended. He also spoke about a compensation scheme for countries who train a youth player only to see him/her switch over to a different national team.
A host of famous names have played senior football for two different countries, including Diego Costa, Thiago Motta, Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Nacer Chadli. One of the most bizarre cases of dual footballing nationality occured in 1988 when Michel Platini played one game for Kuwait after playing 72 games for France between 1976 and 1987.