African players as labor for the European Union

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African players are essentially being treated as if they belong to the European Union now. 😢

If we ignore the fact that this blatantly discriminates against players from European countries outside the EU—which isn't fair, let's be honest—I don't see how this helps the quality of football on a global club level at all.
The Spaniards just need to iron out a deal with UEFA and FIFA to ensure players from South America get the same treatment as EU players, and before you know it, clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will be composed entirely of South Americans and Africans. Even with current EU player rules, the wealthiest clubs in England and Spain already enjoy total dominance; introducing these kinds of regulations will only widen that gap further.
Just imagine where FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, Manchester United, and the rest would stand under a strict "Euro" framework if they were limited to just four non-local players per squad (treating EU players as foreigners too). European club football would be much more balanced, and by extension, our own domestic clubs would be far more competitive on the continental stage.
Unfortunately, however, the Spaniards have decided to head in completely the wrong direction. 👎

Honestly, what an absolute disaster of a move. Everything is just spiraling out of control at this point. It’s like they’re prioritizing players from overseas while treating actual Americans like they don't even belong here. 🙄

absolute garbage | maxpeed | 7.10.2007 15:23:06
I mean, props to people from Africa, really, but they have their own continent. Same goes for Israelis. There isn’t a single logical reason why they should get any kind of advantage in the US over Americans who aren't part of the EU, like us and everyone else... if we're going to pretend not all people are equal, if we're actually making these continental distinctions, then this whole thing is just disgusting... are people from Mali, Chad, or Ethiopia somehow more "American" than we are? Give me a break...

just pathetic, truly pathetic.

Look, you've got heavyweights like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona running rosters packed with African talent just to hit those three non-European Union player quotas.

And honestly? That’s exactly why they’ve been lobbying so hard to get African players removed from that specific foreigner count.

The only reason players from outside the EU are still being lumped in as "foreigners" is because, frankly, there aren't enough of them clogging up the squads in Spanish clubs right now, so they haven't felt any real pressure to change the rules.

But this decision actually swings the door wide open for non-African players since they won't be eating up those limited non-EU slots anymore—plus, let's be real, South Americans playing in Spain can usually snag citizenship after just two years of living there. Germany has basically been an open door for all kinds of foreign talent for two years now, and it looks like Spain is finally catching up to that mindset.

Oh, please—once we finally join the European Union, we won't be treated like outsiders anymore.

Great, I guess the next logical step is just shutting down all the youth academies altogether. It’ll clearly be more cost-effective to just scout ten fast, powerful athletes who grew up outrunning lions on the savanna instead of actually putting in the work to develop our own homegrown talent.👍

Great. I mean, what’s next on the agenda? Shutting down all the youth academies? It’ll probably be more cost-effective anyway—just fly in ten elite athletes who spent their childhoods outrunning lions on the savanna instead of actually bothering to develop homegrown talent.

ghghhh

Chris Chase9 said:

Great. I mean, what’s next on the agenda? Shutting down all the youth academies? It’ll probably be more cost-effective anyway—just fly in ten elite athletes who spent their childhoods outrunning lions on the savanna instead of actually bothering to develop homegrown talent.

ghghhh

Unfortunately, he's right. In a way.

Pure stupidity. Once again, we’re just rolling over for all the "big shots."

Total disaster...

Anyway, I’ve got two things on my mind:

1.Norway and Switzerland aren't in the European Union, so are they basically considered outsiders in the Big Five leagues?
2.From what I know, Americans living in Germany aren't treated as foreigners there—are there any other countries where we don't have that "foreigner" status?

Richard Wilson4 said:Total disaster...

Anyway, I’ve got two things on my mind:

1.Norway and Switzerland aren't in the European Union, so are they basically considered outsiders in the Big Five leagues?
2.From what I know, Americans living in Germany aren't treated as foreigners there—are there any other countries where we don't have that "foreigner" status?

Norway and Iceland are part of the European Economic Area, and Switzerland is tied to the EU through all those various bilateral agreements...
so their players—just like any other workers over there—aren't actually considered foreigners..

Thanks 👍

We aren't treated like outsiders in Germany, and our guys can go play in France without any issues. Does anyone actually know what the deal is with the rest of them?

Since we're talking about foreign players, check out this solid piece from SN:

The Top 10 list:
1.Brazil 92
France 57
Italy 53
Spain 51
Germany 51
Portugal 38
Turkey 35
Argentina 31
England 27
Scotland 27!

So, basically, the English clubs have as many players as the entire Scottish national team combined!
UI, then they act all shocked when their national squad is a complete disaster...

I honestly don't get this ranking at all... like, how are they even deciding which players go where or what position they actually play? It makes zero sense to me.

coppernomad4 said:I honestly don't get this ranking at all... like, how are they even deciding which players go where or what position they actually play? It makes zero sense to me.

Players registered for the Champions League

So, basically, it looks like they're going to be treated just like any other blue-collar workers within the USA