It's a complicated Continent, that's for sure. And I can't do much; but research is one of my few talents and I occasionally do it well. So I figured I would clear up the much-debated, rarely-understood Europe issue!
UEFA
All European nations + Israel are members of the Football Association that is UEFA. This is, however, not in any way a political organisation and it is bound by various rules of nations and intergovernmental organisations such as the EU.
The members of UEFA are:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.
The European Union
The European Union (EU in short) is an economic and political union between 25 European countries. The European Union is an independent organisation with unified legislation regarding economics: and football is regarded as an economic sector. Thus, the laws the European Union directly affect football in 25 of the 52 UEFA member states. The most important European Union law from a football perspective is Article 39 of the EU Treaty which states that "all workers within the union are entitled to free movement". In other words: any EU inhabitant may find a job anywhere else in the EU, including football players. It is thus not possible for a member state of the EU to draw up limits to the amount of EU players a football team may have.
Here is a map of the European Union:
IMPORTANT: Norway and Switzerland are not part of the EU but have a special economical relationship with the Union that effectively means the above described legislation ALSO includes these two nations. Thus, the legislation made by the EU is valid for and binds 27 of the 52 UEFA member states.
Europe outside the EU
Europe outside the EU is exactly that; outside. The nations outside the European Union (disregarding Norway and Switzerland) have no form of unified legislation they can weigh up against EU laws, nor are there any treaties of significant importance between the European Union and the other European nations that carry an impact on football.
European Union nations are free in drawing up limits to the amount of non-EU workers, football players included, allowed in their state. This has led to restrictions and quota in every EU member state, a couple of which will be highlighted below:
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If you have any questions, please ask. If you noticed I have forgotten something; tell me and I will add it asap!
Potential sticky thread maybe?
UEFA
All European nations + Israel are members of the Football Association that is UEFA. This is, however, not in any way a political organisation and it is bound by various rules of nations and intergovernmental organisations such as the EU.
The members of UEFA are:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.
The European Union
The European Union (EU in short) is an economic and political union between 25 European countries. The European Union is an independent organisation with unified legislation regarding economics: and football is regarded as an economic sector. Thus, the laws the European Union directly affect football in 25 of the 52 UEFA member states. The most important European Union law from a football perspective is Article 39 of the EU Treaty which states that "all workers within the union are entitled to free movement". In other words: any EU inhabitant may find a job anywhere else in the EU, including football players. It is thus not possible for a member state of the EU to draw up limits to the amount of EU players a football team may have.
Here is a map of the European Union:

IMPORTANT: Norway and Switzerland are not part of the EU but have a special economical relationship with the Union that effectively means the above described legislation ALSO includes these two nations. Thus, the legislation made by the EU is valid for and binds 27 of the 52 UEFA member states.
Europe outside the EU
Europe outside the EU is exactly that; outside. The nations outside the European Union (disregarding Norway and Switzerland) have no form of unified legislation they can weigh up against EU laws, nor are there any treaties of significant importance between the European Union and the other European nations that carry an impact on football.
European Union nations are free in drawing up limits to the amount of non-EU workers, football players included, allowed in their state. This has led to restrictions and quota in every EU member state, a couple of which will be highlighted below:
- Spain | La Liga | The Spanish football association has drawn up legislation that states the maximum number of non-EU players in a Spanish football team is 4. Only 3 of them may actively engage in one football match. This rule also applies to the Copa del Rey.
- England | The Premier League | There are no direct limits to the number of non-EU players per team in the Premiership. It is however complicated to attain a work permit for such players, which means the number of non-EU players per team in England is kept consistently low.
- Italy | La Serie A | The situation in Italy is quite complicated. In an attempt to protect homegrown talent, Italy has a rule that only allows football teams to sign only one non-EU player per transfer window. Seeing as there are two transfer windows per season, a team can sign two non-EU player per season. Also, this rule does not apply to domestic non-EU players, meaning non-EU players that already play in Italy. Additionally, new regulations state that a Serie A club cannot sign a fifth non-EU player unless he was already plying his trade in Italy that season.
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If you have any questions, please ask. If you noticed I have forgotten something; tell me and I will add it asap!
Potential sticky thread maybe?
