World football governing body FIFA is currently mulling over some changes on the rule governing players eligibility for national teams, particularly the rule on switching from one nation to another.
According to Victor Montagliani, who is the head of FIFA’s stakeholders committee, the present rule on eligibility for national team contains some restrictions, which are mainly aimed at frustrating players from playing for teams they have no connection with.
He also said the present rule governing players who want to switch allegiance from one nation to another has provisions, which has stopped players from switching from one country to another with ease.
The Canadian, who is also the president of the North, Central America and Caribbean Federation ( CONCACAF) particularly mentioned Africa, Asia and his own region as continents battling with the issue of nationality switch for eligible footballers.
Nigeria have been very active in luring players with dual nationality to switch allegiance to the senior national team, and the proposed amendment of the rules could make things easier for them, but at the same time it could also tighten issues.
“There are nationality issues that pop up all over the world, in Africa, 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.”
“There are so many issues that have popped up over the years because the world is changing, immigration is changing”, Montagliani concluded.
Shedrack Obi
