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Post-Brexit, whither the EPL?

LONDON — Mr Richard Scudamore’s worst nightmare is now a reality.

Spain’s David de Gea, who also guards the goal for Manchester United. Photo: Getty Images

Spain’s David de Gea, who also guards the goal for Manchester United. Photo: Getty Images

LONDON — Mr Richard Scudamore’s worst nightmare is now a reality.

The English Premier League (EPL) chief executive had been lobbying his 20 top-flight football clubs to express support for the United Kingdom to ­remain part of the European Union (EU) for several weeks. Friday’s Leave vote has left questions about the EPL’s future.

As the head of one of Britain’s most successful cultural exports, and the man behind its £8.3 billion (S$15.4 billion) global and domestic television three-year deal, Mr Scudamore stated that the referendum was at odds with the EPL’s commitment to “openness”, and leaving the EU would make it harder for the league to safeguard its intellectual property rights in other parts of ­Europe, crucial to the way that it agrees separate lucrative contracts with separate territories.

There are other pressing concerns as well — including expected new ­restrictions on work permits that will curtail the number of non-British ­European footballers plying their trade in the EPL; the expected inflation of the clubs’ transfer spending and wage bill; as well as the prospect of ceding vital ground — in terms of attracting the best football talent available — to its European rivals in Spain, Germany and Italy.

“Cutting ourselves off from Europe would have devastating consequences,” warned Ms Karren Brady, vice-chairman of West Ham United. “Losing this ­unhindered access to European talent would put British clubs at a disadvantage compared with continental sides.”

The EU’s freedom of movement principle allows footballers from the EU to ply their trade in the UK without needing a work permit that the majority of non-EU citizens require.

According to a study by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), using the British Home Office’s current criteria for non-EU players — which ­require players to have played in a certain percentage of their national team’s matches — more than 100 European players currently playing in the EPL would fail to get a work permit. They include stars such as Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet and Leicester City midfielder N’Golo Kante.

“We’re talking about half of the EPL needing work permits,” football agent Rachel Anderson told the BBC.

In that scenario, EPL clubs could be forced to pay more, argues Dr ­Babatunde Buraimo, a senior lecturer in sports economics at the University of Liverpool.

“Clubs will be limited to hiring higher-calibre players from highly Fifa-ranked EU countries,” he said. “If the EPL is limited to these players, this will increase the values, in terms of transfer fees and wages, of acquiring proven and established EU players. Missing out on rising European talent such as Kante will be one of the drawbacks.”

Yet there are some who believe that a Leave vote will enhance the English football by curbing the number of foreign footballers in the top leagues. Local youngsters will now have a chance to step up to top-flight football, they said.

“We don’t want to stop the outstanding talent coming here, but there are an awful lot of bog-standard players as well,” said English FA chairman Greg Dyke. “Over the next three, four or five years, you could see the numbers of homegrown players ­going up from a percentage in the high 20 to 40 per cent.”

But losing that “cosmopolitan flavour” may make the EPL “less attractive to viewers and sponsors”, said Mr Christian Abt, a director at the Essentially sports management group.

And that in turn will hit the EPL hard in the pockets, Mr Rory Miller, a Master of Business Administration lecturer on football industries at Liverpool University, told the BBC. “The worst-case scenario is that the EPL would not be permitted to ­attract foreign stars in great numbers and would then lose ground in international sponsorship and broadcasting revenue to rivals like Spain and Germany,” he said.

And that is the sum of Mr Scudamore’s greatest fear. AGENCIES

 

EPL WORK PERMIT RULES

- A player must play at least 30% of his national team’s matches in the last two years if his country is in the top 10 of Fifa’s world rankings, 45% if ranked between 11th and 20th, 60% between 21st and 30th, and 75% if between 31st and 50th.

- Player currently must be playing for a country in the top 50 when rankings are averaged over two years.

- Players aged 21 or under need to fulfil the criteria only for the previous 12 months.

 

Under this rule, several European EPL stars would not have qualified for a work permit, such as:

- David De Gea (Manchester United, GK)

The reigning EPL Goalkeeper of the Year has been playing second fiddle to Spain No 1 Iker Casillas the past two seasons. He did not meet the 30% rule.

 

- N’Golo Kante (Leicester City, MF)

The youngster helped Leicester win the title but has yet to break into France’s first XI.

 

- Dimitri Payet (West Ham, MF)

Out in international wilderness for most of his career until a brilliant debut season with West Ham saw him called up to France’s Euro2016 squad last month. He would not have met the 30% rule.

 

- Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea, DF)

Serbia are ranked outside of Fifa’s top 50 (54) and hence no Serbian EPL players - notably Ivanovic, Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic and Manchester City’s Aleksandar Kolarov - will get their work permits approved.

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