Talk:FIFA eligibility rules

Players who have switched nationalities
First of all, great article, desperately needed. Anyway I have some suggestion to improve the article. In the Modern changes section, Alex Bruce is mentioned as one of the player who might switch nationalities in the future (has not played for Northern Ireland yet). It might be better to mention players who already switched nationalities, such as: Jermaine Jones (played friendly matches for Germany in 2008 and plays for United States since 2010) or Thiago Motta (played for Brazil in 2003 and plays for Italy since 2011). Motta's appearance for Brazil was in competitive fixtures but FIFA still allowed him to switch nationalities. This complex issue might be worth mentioning in the article. More info about Motta's caps can be found on his talk page. — MT (talk) 16:28, 28 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree Motta and Jones are much stronger examples; they are now included in the relevant section of the article prior to Bruce. Deserter 1  16:01, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Needs an update?
This article says it now requires 5 years residence before being eligible to switch nationalities for eligibility. http://www.thenational.ae/sport/uae-sport/fifa-rejects-uae-bid-to-reduce-eligibility-rules-to-three-years Macktheknifeau (talk) 17:39, 12 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Excellent find. I have looked at the current FIFA Statutes again. Article 16, which is quoted in the article and stated on p62 of, states two years residence is required where nationality entitles players to represent more than one Association. Article 17 on p63 states five years residence is required for "Acquisition of a new nationality". Does that mean, if a player is given a passport for a country, but was not born there and has no relatives from the country, he must have lived there for two years before FIFA will let them represent that country - but if a player does not have a passport, he may still play for that country if he has five years residence? Deserter 1  18:22, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Another update is needed to this line The relevant current FIFA statute, Article 17: Acquisition of a new nationality, states:[20] If you read that linked FIFA Statutes 2012 file (nr20), the actual Article is 7 not 17. In fact all 4 FIFA Articles of Eligibility to Play For Representative Teams have been changed to 5,6,7 and 8, instead of 15,16.17 and 18, on page 64. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Geithals (talk • contribs) 14:56, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Modern changes
With regards to the "Modern changes" section, should the events in it not be listed chronologically to give the article more "flow"? For example, it starts off with "In March 2004, ..." but further down it says "Since 2004 it was also permitted for a player to represent .." Since the second the statement (which actually came into effect on January 1, 2004) comes before the second, should that not be placed first? For example, start off with that bit, then add that Antar Yahia became the first player to ever take advantage of the new laws, and then add the FIFA modification that was done in March. I personally think it would read better.TonyStarks (talk) 06:12, 26 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I agree, a chronological order would be more logical. This has now been changed. Deserter 1  09:27, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Question About Northern Mariana Islands
Does the Northern Mariana Islands soccer association share a nationality with the United States and its other territories? NMI is currently not on the list in the article.
 * They're not FIFA members so it doesn't apply. Mind you, the article could probably use a brief note about how situations like this, where a place is a confederation member but not a FIFA member, are handled. Réunion, Zanzibar, Bonaire, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, Sint Maarten, Kiribati, Niue and Tuvalu all seem to be in a similar situation. I would do it myself but I don't know what the rules are. Keresaspa (talk) 23:45, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

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New Changes
This article has none of the new changes to the rules that FIFA introduced in 2021, they are significant changes that include allowing players who were otherwise tied by playing in junior tournaments or even full national team games to change rep nationality. Macktheknifeau (talk) 09:58, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Footboll player mustaf
academy A chance a group A Player a group that wants to 16years 102.220.40.182 (talk) 12:34, 5 June 2023 (UTC)