How will brexit affect FM17, FM18 and so on?

As in topic, how likely is to return to pre-Bossman ruling situations of English Premier League, work permits, etc?

It shouldn't until at least FM 19 I would think. We won't actually leave for a couple more years. Having said that, I should imagine that it will be a lot harder to pick up extremely young stars from abroad now.

Seen lots of 'Brexit' posts on different forums today, how will it effect Ice Hockey in the UK, Football, sport, interest rates.

Love that there's one on here about ' How will it affect my Spurs save on FM19" Lol

I guess if it has any effect in real life over the summer, and beyond then it will get in,to the game.

You can already apply the Brexit in FM Editor.

Go into Nations > Select England/Scotland/Wales > Edit > Information > clear European Union in Agreement section.

You can also downgrade the exchange rate of UK Pound Sterling in Currencies.

Depends now how the UK gov will evolve the work permit regulation but they are more difficult to obtain since the last year.

If FM is right coded, lesser international players in PL teams should imply less important TV rights in the future.

Depends how SI handle it. In real life it largely comes down to whether we join the EFTA or not which we won't even know before FM19 is released. Possible they could set it to be a random chance either way much like they handled future appeals of transfer embargoes.

It will effect the game in whichever way if effects football in the UK in real life.

It is possible that all players from outside the UK, even those from countries within the EU, will need to qualify for a work permit in order to play football in the UK. If that is the case then it'll be much harder to sign any foreigners as most players from outside of the UK will not qualify for a work permit.

However what the real life impact will be is very uncertain, there's a lot of possible outcomes and right now nobody could do anything other than guess what it will be.

I guess if it has any effect in real life over the summer, and beyond then it will get in,to the game.

Well there won't be any impact in terms of work permits by next season, any change in that area will only come into effect once we have actually exited the EU which isn't going to be completed for at least the next 18 months.

The only real change that will be seen this summer is likely to be an increase in transfer fees and wages due to the pound losing value.

It shouldn't until at least FM 19 I would think. We won't actually leave for a couple more years. Having said that, I should imagine that it will be a lot harder to pick up extremely young stars from abroad now.

Actually that should be one of the areas that isn't really changed too much.

As all players from outside the UK would need to qualify for a work permit they would either need to have played the required percentage of international games for their country in the last two years, or be viewed as an exceptional talent. In FM the latter is something that is pretty freely applied to youngsters.

The problem will be signing any player from abroad who isn't either a talented youngster or an international regular. They simply won't qualify for a work permit, so the days of being able to pick up cheap foreigners for lower division sides, or even premiership sides, will more or less be over.

The problem will be signing any player from abroad who isn't either a talented youngster or an international regular. They simply won't qualify for a work permit, so the days of being able to pick up cheap foreigners for lower division sides, or even premiership sides, will more or less be over.

And I see that as generally a good thing. I've always been for bringing some of the best talent to our shores but, for many years now, clubs have gone for far too many average, cheap foreigners rather than giving local talent an opportunity. I am hoping that, with time, this will vastly increase the opportunities for British players and improve the standard and increase the pool of players available for the national sides.

Perhaps that's a bit too simplistic a view but here's hoping it at least goes down that path.

I fully expected Peter Scudamore to come out against Brexit, with the full backing of all 20 Premier League teams, but what I was very surprised about was how little this billion pound industry actually complained about it. It should have been a much bigger part of the Remain campaign's argument, due to how much it is worth and how many football fans there are out there.

it means you cant poach all the newgens from Europe until they are 18 though

but we haven't actually left yet.

Seen lots of 'Brexit' posts on different forums today, how will it effect Ice Hockey in the UK, Football, sport, interest rates.

Love that there's one on here about ' How will it affect my Spurs save on FM19" Lol

Yeah, me too. It's kind of funny the amount of people that are worried about fairly trivial things given the actual significant ramifications of this referendum.

The Remain campaign should have used stuff like this to sway the kind of idiots that voted Out purely because they are stupid enough to believe what they read The Sun and Daily Mail. Tell them we won't be allowed to do the Euromillions or their favourite football team won't be able to compete to buy the multi-million pound foreign football stars any more and they'd be voting to stay in droves

This is not the place for any political discussion about the referendum, so please take it to the Off Topic forum.

24 hours only after the vote, nobody has any idea of what the overall ramifications will be and when they will come about, so all this can only be pure speculation

Apologies, for some reason I thought I was in OTF. Not even sure how I actually got here

You can already apply the Brexit in FM Editor.

Go into Nations > Select England/Scotland/Wales > Edit > Information > clear European Union in Agreement section.

You can also downgrade the exchange rate of UK Pound Sterling in Currencies.

Depends now how the UK gov will evolve the work permit regulation but they are more difficult to obtain since the last year.

If FM is right coded, lesser international players in PL teams should imply less important TV rights in the future.

Nobody to disprove me?

I would be interested by your results.

Not the first time Miles has made a cryptic comment like this

Indeed. I'm actually getting a bit concerned (and irritated ) by this.

Not the first time Miles has made a cryptic comment like this

This makes it much less cryptic - Miles blogs about the potential impact. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brexit-sports-interactive-miles-jacobson?trk=pulse_spock-articles

And I see that as generally a good thing. I've always been for bringing some of the best talent to our shores but, for many years now, clubs have gone for far too many average, cheap foreigners rather than giving local talent an opportunity. I am hoping that, with time, this will vastly increase the opportunities for British players and improve the standard and increase the pool of players available for the national sides.

Perhaps that's a bit too simplistic a view but here's hoping it at least goes down that path.

I fully expected Peter Scudamore to come out against Brexit, with the full backing of all 20 Premier League teams, but what I was very surprised about was how little this billion pound industry actually complained about it. It should have been a much bigger part of the Remain campaign's argument, due to how much it is worth and how many football fans there are out there.

Average, cheap foreigners like Kante, Mahrez and Payet? If we don't retain freedom of movement it will be awful for the Premier League because it will be far less competitive - clubs like Leicester could no longer use their nouse to scout for unknown talent abroad and build a side that exceeds all expectations, but would be directly limited by the quality of players who come through in their local area. Strong English talent is spotted and does get chances already - the actual player quality in the England team is high and always has been, the problem has been turning that into a functional team with a real footballing talent as well as doing more to protect the grassroots game. This will only result in more very average English players who do nothing to improve the league being played anyway just to fill spaces, they won't suddenly become capable of improving the England team.

Just started a FM experiment with Brexit. I removed England, Wales and NI from EU and left Scotland in as I assumed they would try to get into EU(Questions over whether or not Spain would allow it is another matter) I changed Scotland and Ireland's location to central europe to circumvent the UK and Ireland players not treated as foreign. Currently a Common travel area exists but I'm assuming that there will be no 'special' agreement possible between the UK and Ireland(and Scotland) I don't know if it has any impact though in the game? The EPL has no rules against non EU players as far as I can tell.

The UK or whatever it is that exists in 2-5 years time could just decide to give work permits to everyone, especially any players above 1 million or something.

Average, cheap foreigners like Kante, Mahrez and Payet?

Mahrez isn't from the EU is he? Unless he had an EU passport?

Mahrez isn't from the EU is he? Unless he had an EU passport?

French passport, he was born in France! However, his wife is English...

Mahrez is French like usually 100% of the players from the Algeria National Team.

A company would like to announce that new releases will always come, we have always heard that ideas for FM17, FM18, FM19 are already there. But this time, it looks really different. Anyway, not much time to learn whether FM17 will be there or not.

It shouldn't until at least FM 19 I would think. We won't actually leave for a couple more years. Having said that, I should imagine that it will be a lot harder to pick up extremely young stars from abroad now.

They could set it so it happens in the 2019 year of FM17 saves.

this is really good article on what happens to football after brexit. nice summary.

https://footballytics.wordpress.com/2016/06/24/brexit-and-what-happens-to-football/

Had the author of that article bothered to do a little bit of researcher they would know the claims that the Payet & Martial would not get a work visa if the current non-EU national rules were applied are factually incorrect, both would likely have met the points criteria for the league to sponsor a visa application & that would be the case for many of the transfers involving EU nationals.

To the OP, if SI code in the UK's exit & apply the full set of visa rules on the assumption that the current rules I suspect the impact on the transfer policy of a Premier League club will be minimal, Championship & below plus the non-English leagues will probably be tougher due to a greater domestic bias.

Had the author of that article bothered to do a little bit of researcher they would know the claims that the Payet & Martial would not get a work visa if the current non-EU national rules were applied are factually incorrect, both would likely have met the points criteria for the league to sponsor a visa application & that would be the case for many of the transfers involving EU nationals.

To the OP, if SI code in the UK's exit & apply the full set of visa rules on the assumption that the current rules I suspect the impact on the transfer policy of a Premier League club will be minimal, Championship & below plus the non-English leagues will probably be tougher due to a greater domestic bias.

Martial I agree, but how would Payet have passed?

I expect he would get 3 points for his wage value (club's would boost to ensure easy points are hit or argue that loyalty bonuses form part of a players fixed monthly income) & the 4th point due to the value of the transfer fee or for playing more than 30% of matches for a club in a top league, these are touch & go but I'd be surprised if neither are met.

You have to feel the Premier League will largely play a role in determining the rules of any new work permit system. They don't particularly get a say, and couldn't argue too much with Dyke tightening the rules on non-EU players but if it begins to look like it would harm the commercial success of the Premier League you can guarantee there'd be some serious pressure applied on the FA to lessen the rules.

As and when rules in football change they change in the FM series as well pretty swiftly there after.

As for announcements regarding FM17 or the lack thereof, FM is never really announced - it's never been that way. We usually get a release date, some good stuff on the new features and polishing of existing systems, and then when it's ready we all crack on. I suppose what counts as an announcement didn't really happen until like September last year I think.

Always the change SI may be thinking of some way to reinvent the franchise and it might not be called FM, but they're very unlikely to take a step in the direction of sports management sims to an open world sandbox RPG.

There were plenty of advertisements for jobs not too long ago though, so it's safe to say they're probably working on something... maybe its 16.3

Had the author of that article bothered to do a little bit of researcher they would know the claims that the Payet & Martial would not get a work visa if the current non-EU national rules were applied are factually incorrect, both would likely have met the points criteria for the league to sponsor a visa application & that would be the case for many of the transfers involving EU nationals.

To the OP, if SI code in the UK's exit & apply the full set of visa rules on the assumption that the current rules I suspect the impact on the transfer policy of a Premier League club will be minimal, Championship & below plus the non-English leagues will probably be tougher due to a greater domestic bias.

to be fair, that isn't really the point of the article. at least i didn't see it. it was more about possibilities and what might happen.

Always the change SI may be thinking of some way to reinvent the franchise and it might not be called FM, but they're very unlikely to take a step in the direction of sports management sims to an open world sandbox RPG.

World of GafferCraft, get in there.

Mahrez is French like usually 100% of the players from the Algeria National Team.

French passport, he was born in France! However, his wife is English...

:thup:

I expect he would get 3 points for his wage value (club's would boost to ensure easy points are hit or argue that loyalty bonuses form part of a players fixed monthly income) & the 4th point due to the value of the transfer fee or for playing more than 30% of matches for a club in a top league, these are touch & go but I'd be surprised if neither are met.

Not sure under the criteria France counted as a top league - I'm not sure but I believe the national team wasn't in the top 20 at the time which means French players wouldn't have counted when ranking them.

Two more examples of "average" European players we'd have denied entry so as to give a proper oppourtunity to Barry Bobbins who scored a few goals on loan at Carlisle: Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. These protectionist rules are ridiculous.

Average, cheap foreigners like Kante, Mahrez and Payet? If we don't retain freedom of movement it will be awful for the Premier League because it will be far less competitive - clubs like Leicester could no longer use their nouse to scout for unknown talent abroad and build a side that exceeds all expectations, but would be directly limited by the quality of players who come through in their local area.

You name just three players (yes, I know there are more) but Payet was already a well-established player in France, having played ~90% of top flight games for the previous NINE seasons. He'd also played 25 club European matches (15 CL for then champions Lille and Marseille and 10 Europa for St Etienne). I don't think he was either cheap (£11.25m) or average, and would have got a work permit anyway.

Kante and Mahrez have been a great success this past season but Mahrez had done little in his previous 18 months with Leicester so who is to say that a British player couldn't have grown into the side like Mahrez has?

For every success of a Kante or Mahrez, there are probably five failures or mediocre signings.

And since when has a club been restricted to players just from their local area? Why would they? They could still buy British players from anywhere they wanted to.

Admittedly, it might not be great for the standard of the Premier League to start with but if you are just concerned about your EPL club, then that's a bit narrow minded.

In the long run I can only see it as a good thing for the national sides and for the clubs in general. Look at the other top leagues and compare how many foreign players they have and then also see how well their national sides do. We have <35% of English players playing in the EPL, whereas Germany have 50%, Spain 58%, France 56% and Italy 43% of their own.

Strong English talent is spotted and does get chances already - the actual player quality in the England team is high and always has been, the problem has been turning that into a functional team with a real footballing talent as well as doing more to protect the grassroots game. This will only result in more very average English players who do nothing to improve the league being played anyway just to fill spaces, they won't suddenly become capable of improving the England team.

There is a lot of English talent that is spotted and signed up......and then they don't get the chance to play. For those teams that do give English players a chance, they do pretty well. Man U's great successes a decade ago were built around a core of English/British players. Arsenal's early joys under Wenger was largely down to a solid defence made up of British players. Spurs, as you know, have just had their best season in a long time. Where would they have been without Walker, Rose, Dier, Alli and Kane? How is it a bad thing that they gave those English players the chance to shine? A couple of seasons ago, Dier, Alli and Kane were virtual unknowns and look at them now.

But you also have a lot of British talent that just goes to waste or have been bought just to fill home grown quotas, while foreign players come in because they are generally cheaper but not necessarily better.

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I don't really see a downside to this. The best foreign talents will still come over here but the cheap 'squad fillers' won't and their places will be taken up by British players who will then have the opportunity to progress. Some will succeed and some will fail, just like any player.

The ruling will affect lower league clubs more because they can't get the superstars to join and have relied on your average Jonny Foreigner for a while now but, as a Cardiff supporter, I am happy for this to happen. Some of my all time favourite Cardiff players have been local lads (or at least Welsh/British) such as Carl Dale, Jason Perry, Rob Earnshaw, Scott Young and even Joe Ledley despite him deserting us for Celtic on a free and leaving us without any compensation. The reason we love these guys so much is because they are from OUR town/city/country and it means so much more to them to play for the club.

The more British players that get a chance to play, the better a lot of them will become and that will increase their chances of playing for a bigger club and thus also for their country. It might be a slow process but in the long run it'll improve things.

Two more examples of "average" European players we'd have denied entry so as to give a proper opportunity to Barry Bobbins who scored a few goals on loan at Carlisle: Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. These protectionist rules are ridiculous.

Do you actually know how work permits work and how they are awarded? If Man U could get one for Brazilian youngster Anderson almost a decade ago by appealing on the basis that he was a great young talent, I'm sure they would have succeeded with Ronaldo who had shown a lot more promise.

Also, if this new ruling had been in place back then, they may have saved a few million quid rather than splash it out on junk like Bebe, the homeless footballer, who cost £7.4m somehow.

And Henry? He was a full international and was France's top scorer at the World Cup in 1998 when Arsenal signed him. Why wouldn't he have got a work permit? Just because Wenger then transformed him into such a magnificent player doesn't mean he was a nobody beforehand. You really should do your research.

Everyone the UK could just decide to give everyone and their mother work permits, nobody can dictate to the UK what their immigration policy ought to be. Players from south america could flood the league as they would no longer have to meet requirements that probably come from the EU. There would need not be any fairness in the policy either. A player from a less reputable country could be rejected while others could be accepted at the discretion of British authorities.

There would need not be any fairness in the policy either. A player from a less reputable country could be rejected while others could be accepted at the discretion of British authorities.

no they couldn't. footballers are seen as workers in the eyes of law and law won't allow the discrimination.

You name just three players (yes, I know there are more) but Payet was already a well-established player in France, having played ~90% of top flight games for the previous NINE seasons. He'd also played 25 club European matches (15 CL for then champions Lille and Marseille and 10 Europa for St Etienne). I don't think he was either cheap (£11.25m) or average, and would have got a work permit anyway.

Kante and Mahrez have been a great success this past season but Mahrez had done little in his previous 18 months with Leicester so who is to say that a British player couldn't have grown into the side like Mahrez has?

For every success of a Kante or Mahrez, there are probably five failures or mediocre signings.

And since when has a club been restricted to players just from their local area? Why would they? They could still buy British players from anywhere they wanted to.

Admittedly, it might not be great for the standard of the Premier League to start with but if you are just concerned about your EPL club, then that's a bit narrow minded.

In the long run I can only see it as a good thing for the national sides and for the clubs in general. Look at the other top leagues and compare how many foreign players they have and then also see how well their national sides do. We have <35% of English players playing in the EPL, whereas Germany have 50%, Spain 58%, France 56% and Italy 43% of their own.

There is a lot of English talent that is spotted and signed up......and then they don't get the chance to play. For those teams that do give English players a chance, they do pretty well. Man U's great successes a decade ago were built around a core of English/British players. Arsenal's early joys under Wenger was largely down to a solid defence made up of British players. Spurs, as you know, have just had their best season in a long time. Where would they have been without Walker, Rose, Dier, Alli and Kane? How is it a bad thing that they gave those English players the chance to shine? A couple of seasons ago, Dier, Alli and Kane were virtual unknowns and look at them now.

But you also have a lot of British talent that just goes to waste or have been bought just to fill home grown quotas, while foreign players come in because they are generally cheaper but not necessarily better.

-------------------

I don't really see a downside to this. The best foreign talents will still come over here but the cheap 'squad fillers' won't and their places will be taken up by British players who will then have the opportunity to progress. Some will succeed and some will fail, just like any player.

The ruling will affect lower league clubs more because they can't get the superstars to join and have relied on your average Jonny Foreigner for a while now but, as a Cardiff supporter, I am happy for this to happen. Some of my all time favourite Cardiff players have been local lads (or at least Welsh/British) such as Carl Dale, Jason Perry, Rob Earnshaw, Scott Young and even Joe Ledley despite him deserting us for Celtic on a free and leaving us without any compensation. The reason we love these guys so much is because they are from OUR town/city/country and it means so much more to them to play for the club.

The more British players that get a chance to play, the better a lot of them will become and that will increase their chances of playing for a bigger club and thus also for their country. It might be a slow process but in the long run it'll improve things.

Payet would probably have scored 5 points in the appeal process - 2 each for wages and a transfer fee which were above-average but probably not in the top 25%, and 1 for his appearences in a top European league - which is borderline and down entirely to the discretion of the panel. They may well have decided against giving him a permit due to his age and unexceptional career record. We can't be certain either way, in fairness, but it's certainly possible his move would've been blocked.

Of course clubs can get it wrong too - but those who consistently do so are likely to fail, lose out on revenue and prestige, and therefore not be able to attract much in the way of foreign talent regardless. Those that do well, like Leicester, reap the rewards and make for a far more exciting and dynamic league. The amount of foreign talent playing here and the potential for huge surprises and success stories like that is a massive part of the league's international appeal - if we lose out on that and the funds it generates, we will suffer as a footballing nation and risk the best British players going abroad instead, as well as jeopardising funding used to help bring through homegrown talent in the first place.

All those nations you mentioned are themselves in the EU - showing that our membership is not the problem, but rather our poor attitude to sports at a grassroots level as well as a dwindling interest in the sport in younger generations. My first solution to that would be to do more for promising athletes who don't quite make it to pursue different careers, so they and their families don't see football as a risk. Secondly, we need to make it easier for young people to attend and watch football - add the FA Cup to the list of protected events that must be televised for free, legalise standing to increase ground capacities and if necessary regulate ticket prices. If we get more exceptional talent coming through, they will be played, just as they are in France, Spain or Germany and just as like you say some clubs such as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are doing already - make it easier for others to follow in their footsteps.

The downside, as I say, is that there is no objective way to identify who the best foreign talent is, and therefore any work permit system will see some rejected when they could massively contribute.

Do you actually know how work permits work and how they are awarded? If Man U could get one for Brazilian youngster Anderson almost a decade ago by appealing on the basis that he was a great young talent, I'm sure they would have succeeded with Ronaldo who had shown a lot more promise.

Also, if this new ruling had been in place back then, they may have saved a few million quid rather than splash it out on junk like Bebe, the homeless footballer, who cost £7.4m somehow.

And Henry? He was a full international and was France's top scorer at the World Cup in 1998 when Arsenal signed him. Why wouldn't he have got a work permit? Just because Wenger then transformed him into such a magnificent player doesn't mean he was a nobody beforehand. You really should do your research.

Yes, I do, and the answer is VERY differently to a decade ago when the rules were far more lax! Ronaldo hadn't even made his Portugal debut when United bought him. Under the present system he would likely have got 3 points for the transfer fee, but none for his wages, none for European appearences, and possibly 1 for playing in a top league. He would have been rejected for a permit, and that wouldn't have been good for European football. Perhaps the likes of Wayne Rooney would never have won the Champions League or had the experience of playing with such a world-class players, and he wouldn't have gone on to have the success he has with England. Indeed, with fewer such top players English clubs may not have performed as well in Europe, losing us a Champions League place altogether and a seat at the top table with it. At the least, the league would've been less appealing with all the issues that brings.

I get your point with the likes of Bebe, but at the end of the day - how did we suffer from him signing? It's not like United actually played him at the expense of an English talent - they simply lost money for making a bad choice and moved on. I would much, much rather have a system that allowed both Ronaldo and Bebe in the one that denied both of them.

Henry is actually a good example of how silly the system can be. Despite having won the world cup, he hadn't at that stage made enough France appearences to be eligible, and thus would've been straggling likely on 5 points hoping to win an appeal. Whilst granted he would in that circumstance probably have won it, if he had been playing for someone in the Portuguse or Dutch leagues say rather than for Monaco he would've been denied. It's arbitary and just isn't an effective filter of talent. Leave it to the clubs to live or die on their own decisions. There is already plenty of incentive to bring through your own talent - you can get top players at minimal expense, and make money from selling others. We don't need to cripple the league to try and get clubs to push more through when in all likelihood English players who are actually good enough are getting chances anyway.

Arsenal signed Henry from Juventus. The thing is you are trying to have your cake and eat it too. You can't use great players like Ronaldo and Henry as part of your argument and then, when it is pointed out that they would have got work permits anyway, claim it was easier back then to get them.

As for Bebe, if they hadn't have bought him perhaps they would have spent the money elsewhere. If we weren't in the EU then they would probably have taken that gamble on a British player. That may have worked out or it may not have but better taking that risk than not bothering at all.

Yes, a few ifs, buts and maybes but you get the point.

I really wish they had mentioned the impact on FM during the debates it could have swung the vote

Germany will place 120000% tariffs on FM sales to protect German Football games. You will be imprisoned if caught smuggling copies over. Ireland will become one nation, Scotland will play in the Olympics. Transfers will be paid for in potatoes as the pound will be worthless. Boris Johnson will implement new measures that insist he gets picked for England.

The Stadiums will fall apart as all the brickies have gone home.

Or sales will rocket as were all on the dole and have got a lot of spare time on our hands meaning SI has billions of pounds to spend on FM23, SI will buy all club's as all the Foreign owners will have gone. Which will lead to you controlling an actual real life club.

no they couldn't. footballers are seen as workers in the eyes of law and law won't allow the discrimination.

It's how it happens currently, for non-EU nationals.

no they couldn't. footballers are seen as workers in the eyes of law and law won't allow the discrimination.

That would be European law which doesn't allow it: nothing to say Britain will do the same thing when we leave.

Not the first time Miles has made a cryptic comment like this

My personal opinion is that Miles might be fed up of people asking every year when is the new FM coming out so instead of saying "it will be out when it's ready" like he usually does he's hinting there might not be a game.

I was thinking about how not being members of the EU free trade bloc would impact on FM in terms of the German license issues, it could be plausible that being outside the European legal framework & not having a license from the DFL & DFB could result them asking other EU/EEA nations to prevent the sale of a product from a non EU/EEA nation that contains unlicensed content.

Just a thought & I'm not even coming close to being able to understand the complexity of European trade law but I guess we could in theory end up with an FM that has to make do with a major nation not actually existing in the game.

I was thinking about how not being members of the EU free trade bloc would impact on FM in terms of the German license issues, it could be plausible that being outside the European legal framework & not having a license from the DFL & DFB could result them asking other EU/EEA nations to prevent the sale of a product from a non EU/EEA nation that contains unlicensed content.

Just a thought & I'm not even coming close to being able to understand the complexity of European trade law but I guess we could in theory end up with an FM that has to make do with a major nation not actually existing in the game.

I feel genuinely sorry for SI. Preparing for eventual consequences is going to eat up a lot of resources.

I was thinking about how not being members of the EU free trade bloc would impact on FM in terms of the German license issues, it could be plausible that being outside the European legal framework & not having a license from the DFL & DFB could result them asking other EU/EEA nations to prevent the sale of a product from a non EU/EEA nation that contains unlicensed content.

Just a thought & I'm not even coming close to being able to understand the complexity of European trade law but I guess we could in theory end up with an FM that has to make do with a major nation not actually existing in the game.

Do you mean all of these things may be happened for FM19+ or even for FM17? On the other hand, personally I do not give any chance to the idea of FM17 is not going to be released.