Was Brexit vote an own goal?

Britain’s vote to relinquish its’ status as a member of the European Union has dominated news headlines for the last week yet, surely, as sport and politics don’t mix, at least these pages should be safe from the debate?

Sadly, not. Sport still has to operate within the laws of a country and is subjected to various other market forces.

Despite various players being locked into their national camps at the Euros, transfer speculation is rife and the falling pound will make overseas players more expensive. Some players even have their wages paid in Euros.

At least Manchester City’s young England winger, under constant criticism following poor performances, is not the worst performing Sterling this week!

Yet there are a number of additional areas in which Britain’s self-imposed ‘substitution’ will impact the nation’s sport, although it will take two years after invoking Article 50 of the European Union Treaty before they are fully felt.

Ultimately much will depend on how various agreements are re-negotiated and one of the first will surely relate to work permits.

This is an area where politics will play a part. Immigration has been used as a Brexit hammer and it will, therefore, be intriguing to see the extent to which the UK’s new leaders allow the freedom of movement across borders. If there are any restrictions then EU nationals could be subject to the same qualification criteria as non-EU.

There are currently nearly 400 overseas players plying their trade in the top two divisions in England and Scotland and they would have to have played a certain number of games for their country in the preceding two years (based on their country’s world ranking) to be eligible for a work permit.

If these rules were to apply today then players such as Martial and Kante would fail to meet the minimum requirements.

It would also be harder for British players to represent overseas clubs although there is a far greater influx to the Premier League than for those seeking a foreign experience.

Yet the greater concern to the Premier League clubs would be their reduced ability to coax younger players from Europe into their academies allowing them to be categorised as ‘homegrown’ if they play three full seasons prior to their 21st birthday.

Clubs must include eight such players in a squad of 25.

Clubs would only be permitted to sign a player after their 18th birthday at which point they also become more expensive. Currently they compete for the best 16-and-17-year-olds around Europe and have extensive networks in place to ensure they are the first in the queue. Premier League teams currently have approximately 70 such players registered.

One upside for the successful Brexit campaigners is that this could, therefore, create greater opportunities for British-born players, the argument being that this will strengthen the national team.

Furthermore, local sporting governing bodies may choose to limit the number of EU and Kolpak players (so named after a court case in which Maros Kolpak, a Slovakian handball player, successfully sued on behalf of countries that has signed association agreements with the EU for their citizens to be allowed identical rights).

This will impact significantly on cricket which was inundated after this ruling in 2003 by ‘cheap’ unrestricted players from South Africa and Zimbabwe, along with certain cricketers from the Caribbean (under the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Conotou Agreement). Sixty players were registered across the 18 county teams by 2008.

The ECB has subsequently been able to restrict the influx following a Home Office ruling requiring Kolpak players to have a valid four-year work visa.

Another popular British sport likely to be affected is that of rugby union. The Kolpak countries will again be affected alongside citizens of EU countries, although Fiji, Samoa and Tonga can be added to the list.

Currently English clubs are only permitted two ‘foreign’ players in their match day squads of 23 yet this would have to change dramatically if that were enforced today.

To qualify for a work permit they will have had to have played a test match in the previous 15 months which may then challenge the decision of these countries whether to select their own ‘overseas’ players. This may also mean fewer opportunities for English players seeking to boost their retirement plans in France.