FIFA as come out to suggest that players could switch allegiance to another national team if the player is being snubbed. World Football Governing Body, FIFA has proposed a rule that could favour the Super Eagles of Nigeria and other African Nations most especially. A number of Nigerian and African stars had been lost to many European countries while some wasted after they were capped by these European nations.
Gabriel Agbonlahor, Munir El Haddadi and the like could have benefited from this rule if it was in place years back.
Former Aston Villa attacker, Gabriel Agbonlahor who was eligible to play for Nigeria and England, played only three games for The Three Lions of England before he was dumped and he lost the chance to play for the Eagles.
Similarly, Munir El Haddadi who only played for 13 minutes in Spain’s European Championship qualifier wasn’t allowed to switch allegiance to Morocco.
But all of that would be a thing of the past with the proposed FIFA rule that would allow footballers to switch their allegiances to another national team.
This proposal gives hope to players who are eligible for multiple countries but fall out of favour at their first national team, where they are bound after just a few minutes of playing time in a competitive game.
The proposal would let players switch eligibility but must not have played more than three games for the first country including tournament qualifying games before they turned 21, and at least three years earlier.
This means that under the new proposal, a player could request for a change of nationality if he has played less than three games for his first national team before the age of 21 but would have to wait for at least three years without being called up before requesting for a change of association.
However, the change would be impossible if the player was involved in the FIFA World Cup, European Nations Championship, or Africa Cup of Nations.
It is still a proposal but it could be approved by 211 national federations at the next FIFA congress on September 18.
