FM09 British Citizenship

Granted, on can become british by living in britain for X years. But Ricardo Rocha in my Spurs demo team, is on his was to gain citizenship for Great Britain. Shouldn't this say England like FM08? I mean, he's not living in Scotland or Northern Ireland...

England is in Great Britain and people here get a British passport, not an English one.

There was a discussion about this a few weeks ago. I thought the same thing, but someone posted some information that wwas something like this; if the player plays in the UK and his parents/grandparents are from a country in the UK then they have to play for that country, if the player is playing in the UK and their family have no connections with the UK then the player is free to choose any of the home nations he likes.

I.E.

Ricardo Rocha playing in England and gets British citizenship, but his Gran is Scottish then he can only play for Scotland.

Ricardo Rocha playing in Wales and gets British citizenship, but his family has nothing to do with UK, he can pick NI, Wales, Scotland or England.

Granted, on can become british by living in britain for X years. But Ricardo Rocha in my Spurs demo team, is on his was to gain citizenship for Great Britain. Shouldn't this say England like FM08? I mean, he's not living in Scotland or Northern Ireland...

If a player was to live in England for three years and Wales for two years (there fore 5 years total) he would be a British citizen. (Benifit: Avoiding complex non EU rules)

If he was to live in just England for 5 years he would still have British citizenship but would be elligible to play for England... they are two different things

Ozzy38 is correct. FM08 was wrong. There is no such thing as English citizenship. Only British citizenship.

There was a discussion about this a few weeks ago. I thought the same thing, but someone posted some information that wwas something like this; if the player plays in the UK and his parents/grandparents are from a country in the UK then they have to play for that country, if the player is playing in the UK and their family have no connections with the UK then the player is free to choose any of the home nations he likes.

I.E.

Ricardo Rocha playing in England and gets British citizenship, but his Gran is Scottish then he can only play for Scotland.

Ricardo Rocha playing in Wales and gets British citizenship, but his family has nothing to do with UK, he can pick NI, Wales, Scotland or England.

I don't believe he is free to choose... although the last time this came up was with John Barnes playing for England.

I found the thread and the quote;

Originally Posted by http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamBack/Eligibiliy.html

These general rules apply to all countries, although there is room for differences between countries because national team eligibility depends on nationality or citizenship, which, in turn, hinges on a particular country’s own nationality or citizenship laws.

The national teams of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are, however, a special case because these four “home countries” are part of one national state, the United Kingdom. There is no such thing as English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish citizenship.

The associations of these four countries entered an agreement regarding international eligibility in 1993 which provides that a player holding a British passport is eligible to play for the country of his birth, the country of the birth of either of his natural parents or the country of birth of any of his natural grandparents. If the player, his natural parents and his natural grandparents were born outside the U.K., he may play for the home country of his choice. Our understanding is that once a player has played for one of the home countries, even if it is only a friendly match, the 1993 agreement precludes him playing for another home country. The FIFA rule change for players under 21 must be followed in the U.K., however. Under U.K. law, a player (or anyone, for that matter) who was born abroad becomes eligible for a British passport after five years of lawful residence in the country, and he thus becomes eligible to play for one of the home countries provided he has not played for another national side in official competition.

Taken from this thread http://www.community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=51521&highlight=british

My understanding was that you don't have to have citizenship to play for your country if you have family ties.

Although technically people getting British citizenship can pick from any of the British nations to play for, due to an agreement put in place by the FA's, it can't happen.

What about the whole Almunia situation?

My understanding was that you don't have to have citizenship to play for your country if you have family ties.

That's true, but you can't gain that in the game, you automatically have it as a second nationality.

Although technically people getting British citizenship can pick from any of the British nations to play for, due to an agreement put in place by the FA's, it can't happen.

This is correct. There is an agreement between all home nations that only people with a blood connection to the particular country. That means anyone can get British citizenship, but the won't be allowed to play for any of the home nations.

I just read on BBC's Sport website that Nacho Novo, despite living in Scotland for 8 years and qualifying for a British passport, could never be picked for Scotland because only players with a Scottish bloodline would be picked for the national side.

This seems to be the real-life rule regarding naturalised players in the UK. George Burley wouldn't rule it out, but according to the page, the "Scottish Football Association has confirmed that the Home Nations would continue to pick players based only on bloodlines".

But given other countries' rules on this, it would appear to be complicated in FM09.

I just read on BBC's Sport website that Nacho Novo, despite living in Scotland for 8 years and qualifying for a British passport, could never be picked for Scotland because only players with a Scottish bloodline would be picked for the national side.

This seems to be the real-life rule regarding naturalised players in the UK. George Burley wouldn't rule it out, but according to the page, the "Scottish Football Association has confirmed that the Home Nations would continue to pick players based only on bloodlines".

Its more of a 'gentlemans agreement' that they have decided to select in this way rather than an actual rule I believe. I also believe that Fabio Capello cant select Almunia for this reason even though he's apparently keen to do so. It would be interesting to see who breaks this 'rule' first.

I'd bet on Capello. Mind you I'm not sure why he'd bother. Almunia certainly isn't a bad 'keeper but there's better Englishmen for the job.

And if Kris Boyd can't get a game for Scotland (and Rangers), then why should Nacho Novo get a game when he too can't get a game for Rangers.

As trekman said, it's a 'gentleman's agreement'. I've heard it said that if someone actually tried to challenge it, the FAs might be on shaky legal ground.

I was pleased to see this fixed in FM09. There is no such thing as Scottish or Englisg citizenship, only British.

Is this “gentleman's agreement” present on the game though? While I was playing the demo as Chelsea manager, Carlo Cudicini took up British nationality and his profile said he wants to play for England. He wasn't called up, though I thought that was more to do with him not being good enough rather than Capello not being able to.

Let's get one thing right here or not. It's goign to be impossible for an EU citizen to change nationality from one EU country to another. This breaches the EU rulings set in place which recognise freedom of movement between EU members and was brought to question via the Bosman Rule.

If you're not from the EU then after x years (depending on which country) you can represent that country. However if Nacho Novo or Almunia (Both Spanish) went on to play for the Scottish or England teams, Spain could challenge their selection at the European Court of Justice and they would not only win the case but the nation which took on those players would find themselves in a lot of trouble. The EU regards all it's member nations as ONE. That means they do not concede one person changing membership from one member to another.

The John Barnes scenario is mentioned but he was non-EU (Jamaican) and Marcos Senna or Bojan Krkic in Spain were also non-EU (Brazil and Serbia respectfully). This is a dead argument. It's something that can't happen. If it did then expect another Bosman case and the collapse of the National Team format. Uefa would interfere beforehand, as it would go against their control of the game. However I do find all your arguments devoid of value. IT CAN'T HAPPEN!