Double Nationality and Eligibility for the National Team

The FIFA Congress 2020 approved a new FIFA Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes that entered into force on 18 September 2020 and included some modifications regarding eligibility for national teams, introducing a slightly more flexible scheme for the change of association of football players that hold a double nationality. The new regulatory framework is expected to avoid situations like the one generated regarding the Moroccan football player Munir El Haddadi that has been finally able to change association after having had to battle its request several times before FIFA and CAS since 2018 and now has been able to benefit from the new rules governing eligibility adopted by FIFA.

Introduction

The 2020 FIFA Congress voted to slightly amend the FIFA Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes (RGAS) regarding the eligibility and change of associations. The so-called “sporting nationality” and its sporting consequences have been intensively debated at various levels within the football community in the last 20 years and modifications to the FIFA rules and regulations in this regard have been systematically adopted by FIFA. The modifications introduced in 2020 are the result of a comprehensive working group process involving delegates from several member associations and FIFPRO that intend to bring together the aspiration of both key stakeholders in football and that imply the first wholesale modernization of the rules governing eligibility since the FIFA Congress held in May 2008.

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