Following months of debates and campaigns, it is now official that Britain will leave the European Union, plunging the country into uncertain political, financial and social terrain, but sports too faces an unclear future.
After a drawn out process, Britain will now leave the European Union after a victory for the Brexit campaign, which will impact Premier League football.
The end to freedom of movement could mean that work permits are required, which means that players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitri Payet would be considered as non-British immigrants.
Chief Executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore has already stated that a Brexit would have a negative effect on the Premier League, which has already seen the collapse on the pound to the lowest in 31 years.
Using the 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 Premier League players would have failed to gain a work permit.
This means that in addition to Payet, players such as Premier League winner N’Golo Kante and Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, none of whom were established internationals when they joined their Premier League club last summer, wouldn’t have been able to attain a permit.
It goes without saying but this would be the worst case scenario in regards to the freedom of movement, but whilst the future remains unknown, we can only speculate.
Brexit could also spell the end of the influx of teenage players from the European Union, such as Cesc Fabregas and Adnan Januzaj, who were previously considered as ‘homegrown’ players after moving to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively at the age of 16.
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