FIFA’s transfer proposal could help JFF – Wint
Published:Sunday | August 23, 2020 | 12:35 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) General Secretary Dalton Wint says that FIFA’s proposed rule change regarding players representing a second national team could be beneficial to its recruiting plans.
The proposal would allow players to switch allegiances to play for another approved country if they played a maximum of three games for the first national team before they reached age 21 and three years have passed since they last played for that national team. The proposal will take effect next month pending approval from the 211 national federations at the September 18 FIFA Congress, which will be hosted virtually.
Wint believes that should the measure be approved, it could help with boosting the quality of the senior men’s team.
“[Such a rule could] serve us well. If it is that there are players that have other nationalities that we think can offer some sort of improvement to our team and the coach would like them to be part of [the team] and if this ruling allows them to play, then this will be beneficial to our national programme,” Wint told The Sunday Gleaner.
The proposal is the result of a two-year process by a FIFA working group. The backdrop to the proposal comes from a 2018 case involving Spanish-born forward Munir El Haddadi, who wanted to represent Morocco.
The Sevilla player had only made one appearance for Spain in September 2014 as a substitute in a European Championship qualifier. The case was taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) where he was unsuccessful in his case.
Meanwhile, Reggae Boyz team manager Roy Simpson says that while the proposal would be helpful if approved, he is committed in boosting local talent that is ready for the international market.
“For us it’s good, but what we want is to have our club structure producing junior players, who are of a certain quality, where we can get them transferred to the international leagues,” Simpson said.
Simpson believes that the prospect of luring a promising overseas talent to play for Jamaica could still prove challenging.
“If a youngster at 21 plays three games for England, how do you convince that youngster that he would not play for England (again), that he (should) play for Jamaica? It is always going to be difficult in that kind of situation,” Simpson said.