LAW DIGEST: Sports Law

Do you know that ​ALFRED DI STEPHANO​ one of the all time football greats played for ​Three different countries​ during his career? ? ?

YES!!! He played for ​Argentina🇦🇷, Colombia🇦🇲 and Spain🇪🇸​

The rule of player eligibility to play for a country is governed by ​Articles 5-8 of The FIFA Statutes​ - This rule States how a player may transfer his nationality from a country to another.

According to ​Article 6.1​, a player may transfer his nationality from a country to another country if

💎 He was born in the country.
💎 Either of his biological parents are born in that country
💎 His grand parents are born in that country.
💎 If he has lived for two consecutive years in that country.

The above rule is colloquially known as the ​Granny rule​

According to ​Article 6.2, some countries are classified as *Common nationality or Home nations​ - nationality of a member of one of these countries gives a player the option of playing for any of the countries, these countries include;

💎 British🇬🇧; England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
💎 American🇺🇸;The US,American Samoa,Puerto Rico, Virgin Island, Guam.
💎 Chinese🇨🇳; China, Hong Kong, Macau.
💎 Dutch🇦🇲; Netherlands,Aruba, Curacao.
💎 French🇳🇱; France, Tahiti, Reunion, Graudeloupe
💎 New Zealander; New Zealand, Cook Island.

According to ​Article 5.2,​ if any player has played an ​official match either in part or in full for a country​, he may not be able to transfer his nationality to another country.

If a player intends to change his nationality, he must ​submit a written, substantiated request to FIFA General Secretariat​ and the request considered by the organizations' player status committee.

Hope you've learnt something new?? Pls,👏🏼👏🏼keep learning.

Reference
https://bit.ly/2Llzzle