What counts as a non-eu player in Finland?

I've just started my new save game in Finland, but am confused by the non-eu ruling in the country.

At first I assumed only 3 non-eu players allowed in match squad, meant what it said, but when I checked who had the fgn icon next to their name for the first league game, only my 2 Brazilian players did. My players from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Cameroon and DR Congo were all counted as eu. I have checked each player for second nationality as well, and only one Russian has Finland, the rest just have their primary nation.

First can anyone clarify what the rules are in Finland. I'm in the First Division (second tier).

Secondly, the lack of detail in the rules for each league has long been a problem in FM. When playing in more obscure leagues where people aren't familiar with the set-up, we really need questions like, 'what is a foreign player?' answering in game. Saying just '3 non-eu players allowed in match squad' isn't enough information in this case.

I don't like to bump, but has anyone got any answers?

Its the same as England,Spain etc since Finland is a EU nation, but what you said about Russian players (and others) not being counted as foreign is weird, not sure what to say besides maybe its a bug, but I have no idea about that.

Do they have second nationalities?

It's also possible "non-EU" in Finland could non-UEFA (I realize Congo isn't in UEFA, but a lot of African players playing in the region have a second nationality) like it does (did?) for the German foreigner rule.

I assumed non-eu meant non-eu at first, but it clearly doesn't. Only 1 of my foreign players, one of a number of Russians in the squad, has Finland or any other EU country as second nationality.

I'm wondering whether it's like Portugal where I understand Brazilian players don't count as foreign, as Russia does border with Finland. Doesn't explain the Africans though.

According to rules of Football Association of Finland (Palloliitto): Teams can have maximum of 3 foreign (non-EU) players in a match squad. However, a player who has been registered to a Finnish club for at least five years does not count as foreign (even though he has not gained EU-nationality).

Linkage: http://www.palloliitto.fi/kilpailu/saannot_ja_maaraykset/kilpailumaaraykset/6_luku_kansainvaliset_pelaajasii/

Thank you for your answer, much appreciated.

Cheers TPA, the rest of you take a long hard look at yourselves.

You're welcome guys :-)

Also it seems that European Union has an international agreement with number of countries that allows their citizens to work in EU. The agreement is not commonly in effect in football in other European countries but Football Association of Finland does acknowlede the agreement. That may also be the reason for players listed as EU-players.

That´s quite correct, here´s a few countries that ýou can buy players that doesn´t count as being foreigners

EU:n sopimusvaltiot:

Afrikan valtiot (48)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Eritrea, Etelä-Afrikan tasavalta, Etiopia, Kamerun, Kap Verde, Kenia, Keski-Afrikan tasavalta, Komorit, Kongon demokraattinen tasavalta , Kongon tasavalta, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagaskar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mosambik, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Norsunluurannikko, Päiväntasaajan Guinea, Ruanda, Sao Tome ja Principe, Sambia,Senegal, Seychellit, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, SwazimaaTansania, Togo, Tsad, Uganda ja Zimbabwe

Tyynenmeren valtiot (15)

Cookin saaret, Fidji, Itä-Timor, Kiribati , Marshallsaaret , Mikronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua Uusi-Guinea, Salomosaaret , Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu ja Vanuatu

Karibian valtiot (16)

Antigua ja Barbuda, Bahamasaaret, Barbados, Belize, ,Dominica, Dominikaaninen tasavalta, Grenada, Guyana , Haiti, Jamaika, Kuuba, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent ja Grenada, Surinam ja Trinidad ja Tobago

Muut ei UEFA-maat (4)

Kirgisia, Tadžikistan, Turkmenistan ja Uzbekistan

haha! Happy hunting

MaCeR, you're a legend. Cheers!