The impact of the EU referendum and Brexit on the English Premier League

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With the referendum on whether to leave the European Union looming just over the horizon, citizens across the four corners of Britain are due to head to the polls on 23^rd June. Ahead of this, I will be examining the implications caused by a potential ‘Brexit’. It can be duly noted that the majority of voters will not take the considerations of mega-rich football stars into account when deciding whether to leave or stay, instead wondering what a Britain post-‘Brexit’ would look like regarding immigration, the economy and national security. Nevertheless, for some football fanatics, they will be seriously concerned for the stars in their sides who may perhaps not be secure in a EU-less Britain.

Both the Premier League and FA have kept out of the referendum debate. The pair of ruling bodies stress they are keen to be removed from politics in order to not influence voters outside their jurisdiction. Despite this though, Martin Glenn, the chief executive of the FA, signed a letter to The Times last year which stated “it is overwhelmingly in Britain’s interests to stay in the EU”.

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The scenario that television rights and sponsorship would be affected by Brexit is a hard point to sell, so in truth the argument comes down to players’ ability to join English clubs, and also the economic effects that would accompany a breakaway from Europe.

Karen Brady; the vice-chairman at West Ham, was keen to emphasise the potential threat to attendance rates in the wake of voting to leave.

“Economically, leaving the EU would hit us all in the pocket — to the tune of £4,300 a year for the average household”.

She continued on to say:

“Meaning we will all have to tighten our belts. With a less buoyant economy there is less money for families to spend on activities such as going to football games in London and around the UK, and lower crowds mean less income for clubs. But, just as importantly, it could stem the quality of players coming to the Premier League and that could have a material impact on the competition. How is that a good thing?”

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Some ‘Leave’ campaigners have produced a counter-argument that post-‘Brexit’, the Government could negotiate individual trade agreements with non-EU countries such as Argentina and Brazil in order to make it easier for Premier League clubs to sign the best players produced by these countries.

Like so much of the policies in the debate that will appear on both sides’ manifestos, those within the world of football accept that this scenario is hypothetically possible, but question its possibility of being successfully negotiated and employed correctly without abuse.

Football is arguably one area where the European Union really needs the UK. The new £5.14 billion Premier League TV deal comes into effect next season and will project even the top flight’s basement boys into the game’s financial elite. The side that finishes bottom of the Premier League next season will receive in the region of £100 million in TV cash.

In order to put this into context, it will allow a relegated team to outspend every club in Europe apart from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.

Another headache delivered to clubs in the event of a Brexit on June 23^rd is hundreds of footballers losing the right to play in the UK, or so has been claimed. Under current rules, players with an EU passport are free to play in the UK without any stipulations while those without must meet strict Home Office criteria in order to obtain a work visa, but it is still possible.

However, according to a study by the BBC, 332 European players currently playing in the Premier League, Championship and Scottish Premiership would fail to meet the non-EU criteria if the UK broke away from the Brussels-led organisation.

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“More than 100 Premier League players would be affected with Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Watford facing losing 11 players from their squads, while Championship side Charlton Athletic would need to find 13 replacements,” says the corporation.

Under current FA rules, non-EU players must play a certain number of international matches with for their country to gain a visa. The rules also take FIFA rankings and the transfer fee paid for the player into account when deciding on individual cases. If those rules were applied to all foreign players, regardless of their European ethnicity, many stars in the Premier League would not qualify. Last year, a study by The Guardian found that “two thirds [of European players] would not have met the criteria currently used for non-Europeans”.

Among those the paper claims could be affected are Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma and Cesar Azpilicueta; Héctor Bellerin and Francis Coquelin of Arsenal; David de Gea, Juan Mata, Morgan Schneiderlin and Anthony Martial of Manchester United, and Manchester City’s Eliaquim Mangala, Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri.

The problem facing players such as Azpilicueta and Bellerin is that in order to be eligible for consideration, you have to have participated in at least 50% of your countries international matches in the last two years. These two are suffering from a firmly cemented structure in their national team, and the likelihood of them reaching the prerequisite number is unlikely. As for Nasri, who took retiring from international football into his own hands, the problem of being shunned from a return to the French side would bar him from gaining the qualifications needed too.

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Whilst Britain remains a member of the EU, loopholes for players from farther afield remain. Many South American players have been able to claim Spanish citizenship and then move to the Premier League. Brazilian-born Diego Costa is one example. There are others too. Arsenal players Joel Campbell of Costa Rica and Carlos Vela of Mexico did not qualify for work permits when they arrived in England as teenagers, but were farmed out to clubs in EU countries with less stringent immigration laws and became eligible to play in the Premier League after breaking into their national sides.

The Guardian did point out though, that in fact it accepts that the rules are unlikely to be applied retrospectively, meaning most of the aforementioned players would not be affected and would apply more to those seeking to move to the Premier League after the referendum.

The eventuality of a reduction in attendances from fans as a direct result of a shrinking and more conservative economy must be taken into account as supporters are often overlooked in debates about football. They too, could pay a price if Britain leaves the EU.

In her letter, Karen Brady pointed out that fans travelling to away games in Europe currently enjoy cheaper flights with budget airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair and do not require visas. Both of these positive aspects could change in the event of a Brexit. Furthermore, with an expected fall in the value of the pound against the Euro that is expected to follow, travelling overseas to follow your side in their Champions League group games will become less affordable.

What is clear is that the implications of a potential Brexit on the Premier League are not at all insignificant. Far less obvious is the way the voters will decide. On that accord we will have to wait until next Friday morning.

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