EU status (football)

EU status in association football is whether a football player is considered a citizen of the European Union (EU) for the purposes of labour law within domestic European football leagues. There are different rules for which players are eligible for EU status in different European leagues, and leagues have different rules on how many players from outside the EU may be registered. Players within European league systems who are not considered European citizens are known as "non-EU".

History
In the 1995 Bosman ruling, the conclusion of a case regarding freedom of transfers, restrictions on foreign EU players in EU national leagues were banned. The 2003 Kolpak ruling ruled in favour of EU status in sports applying also to EU-based citizens of nations which have an Association Agreement with the EU but are not members; the major effect of this was due to the Cotonou Agreement, which spurred European naturalisation of players from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States. A major football market to recognise the Cotonou Agreement as EU qualifying is Spain; it was ratified in Spain when La Liga allowed teams to have only three non-EU players registered.

Though the United Kingdom signed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU following Brexit, British players are not automatically considered EU qualified: in 2023, British footballer Tosin Adarabioyo reportedly applied for a Nigerian passport so that he could transfer to an EU league, while in 2022 dual-national England international Lucy Bronze was registered as Portuguese when moving to Barcelona. Switzerland also has a series of agreements with the EU, but its players are not automatically considered EU qualified. In EU leagues that do not recognise British and Swiss as EU, young players may be restricted on joining, and players who join will take an international squad spot. Spain considers Swiss players as EU players and, since July 2023, Italy has treated both British and Swiss players as EU players.

The concern of EU status predominantly affects young players who may otherwise find it hard to meet visa requirements.

National league restrictions
Various European leagues maintain rules related to EU status: as of 2008, Swedish teams may only have three non-EU players on the pitch, and German lower divisions could only have three non-EU players. The same year, clubs in Belarus' first division could register four non-EU players and have three on the pitch, while there were no restrictions in its second division. Conversely, clubs in Bulgaria's second division could not have any non-EU players; in its first division they could register five non-EU players and all could play. Italy's third division did not allow non-EU players, while its second division clubs could sign one and in the first division they could have five. Spain's third division did not allow non-EU players except those already registered in teams that were relegated; first division teams could have three players and second division teams could have two.

In Finland, Iceland and the Czech Republic, there were no registration limits for professional non-EU players, but a club could only field three. Ukraine had no registration limits; its first division clubs could field seven non-EU players and its second division clubs could field three. In Slovakia and Croatia they could field four; Denmark could field only three, but treated Cotonou players as EU players. French first division clubs could sign four non-EU players, while its second and third divisions were limited to two; Romanian, Swiss, Israeli and Greek first division teams could have five non-EU players, and in their second divisions they could have three. Similarly, in Hungary clubs had no registration limits but first division teams could field five non-EU players, with second division teams able to play three. Russian clubs had no registration limits, with its first division teams able to field seven non-EU players, and the second division could field three. Turkish first division clubs could sign eight foreign players and field six, while its second division could only sign two foreign players under the age of 21. Norway allowed up to eleven non-Norwegian players of any origin, providing the club had at least two homegrown players in its remaining squad. In 2008, the Netherlands, Serbia, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England had no restrictions on non-EU players. Following Brexit, all non-British players must meet requirements of a points-based system to play in British leagues.