Table of Contents
Executive Summary
The report provides an overview about the impact of Brexit on the football clubs in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The report highlights that due to immigration the number of players will be limited to enter the EU. The sports services to the EU will also be restricted due to Brexit as the UK exports one-third of the overall sports services to the EU. It illustrates that Brexit might lead to advantages for international football players when it is insightful. The Premiere League has always been popular however; Brexit will make it reasonable for the football clubs.
Introduction
Since the year 1860, football has been considered as the most famous sports in the United Kingdom. The UK football teams have played with each other several times as compared to any other football team in the world. The specific policy issue that has been identified in the football club in the UK has been the possible effects of Brexit. The exit of the UK from the European Union has led to uncertain future for the sporting labour market. Brexit is defined as the eventual departure of the UK from the EU. In the year 1973, the UK collaborated with the European Committees. However, the UK voted to leave the EU and more than 53.4 percent of the individuals decided to leave the EU (Adler-Nissen, Galpin and Rosamond, 2017). Due to Brexit, a risk has been associated with trailing access to the luxury end of the global player market. Although Brexit has facilitated the aim of the UK football club by providing more British players in the top league however, this is likely to make it more costly. The policy issue has provoked the government to discharge the EU players from post-Brexit labour boundaries.
The UK football clubs have more non-UK residents as compared to UK residents mostly due to present immigration. It can be anticipated that due to Brexit, lesser number of UK players will be given the chance to play. The UK has been shocked by the decision to leave the EU since they voted to leave the EU. The sports labour market has been highly affected due to Brexit as without the liberty to move freely more than 400 UK players will lose their right to play within their football leagues (Dhingra et al., 2017). This is mostly because, the vote to leave EU will also make them lose their EU membership. Even though EU players have been granted permission to play within the UK, however in order to play outside the EU, the players are required to achieve a permit. This type of permit is mostly based on the FIFA ranking of the player. The motive is to illustrate whether the UK remains in the single market after Brexit or they require to leave the single market. However, UK leaving the single market will lead to difficult results for the football clubs.
Literature Review
A literature review is defined as a critical evaluation of published sources on a certain topic. The topic or field that will be examined deals with the possible impact of Brexit on football club along with the impact on labour market of sports. Based on the newspaper article, The Guardian (2016), it can be critically analyzed that Brexit has urged government to exempt players from the European Union. The Chairman of the football club discussed with the government about the impact of the post-Brexit immigration laws on the foreign football players coming to the UK. The impact of Brexit has undoubtedly led to a period of uncertainty for football club. This has been followed by reviewing of rules and regulations by the government. It has been further argued that the UK football clubs comprise a number of non-UK European Economic Area residents. These residents are likely to be refused, under present immigration principles to work, as only the top performing non EEA global players have been permitted to play. As a result, it can be anticipated that under the new immigration circumstances of the UK leaving the EU, limited players under non-UK group will be permitted to play.
Hence, most of the present EEA players are likely to lose their instinctive working prominence. The objective has been to provide an even-handed information as it will avoid providing conflicting information. On the other hand, it has been critically argued by Geeraert, Scheerder and Bruyninckx (2013), that exiting the EU will be beneficial for the UK football clubs as it is likely to boost the horizons to employ from the rest of the world. This is mostly because it will turn out to be at ease to introduce footballers from nations outside the EU. In other words, the UK will be able to treat footballers globally and equally after they leave the EU. This will widen the pool of talent of the football teams. Leaving the EU is likely to take more than 10 years and countries such as Germany and France will probably lengthen negotiations as they will not prefer to motivate anti-EU opponents. The UK government has ordered a self-governing study to illustrate the role played by the EU nationals in the UK economy.
Slater (2016), has provided a conflicting evidence by stating that Brexit will lead to an increase in tariff on sporting products as well as equipment. He further stated that Brexit is not likely to have an impact on foreign arrangements and agreements as they are expected to remain unchanged. This will be mostly due to primary agreements that will be authorized by non-EU bodies. It has been advised to the UK government to provide formal notice of exit to other member areas as it is likely to generate a two year negotiated exit procedure. Brexit will probably have a high amount of ease on the EU football players as they will receive a permanent residence under EU law. Although the credential of the author has been prejudicial however, his findings has been supported by recent findings that clearly illustrated that though Brexit will aid the objective of Football Association of possessing more UK players in the top league by making it more costly than ever. The article by Menezes (2017), further argues that the football club will be aware of the evolution regarding the work permit rules that will make it more restraining for the EU players to join the UK clubs. A result of limitations on the staffing of players with EU nationality will also affect adversely the enrolment of those EU inhabitants residing outside of the EU. This will in turn provide the EU football clubs an individual benefit over the recruitment of those players. He critically analyzed that British football clubs are more likely to find it hard to purchase summer targets after the decision of the UK to leave the EU.
The clubs are expected to find the players more costly as the value will deteriorate due to Brexit. Players will hesitate to shift to the UK clubs if the overall salaries decrease. Premier leagues have already viewed the fact that the effect of Brexit is likely to collapse the sterling price that will make foreign players more costly. The drop in pound will however prove beneficial for the exporters as it will boost the UK producers who manufacture sporting merchandises. This will make UK merchandises more price competitive both globally as well as in the European countries. Nevertheless, these manufacturers are likely to become less competitive after Brexit. This will limit their aptitude to enter the EU markets in which they have been enjoying unobstructed access. This thought has been further supported by Schofield and Criddle (2016), as they inferred that Brexit is likely to lower the liberty of movement limitations on the rest of the world. The liberty of movement policy facilitates football players from the EU to practice their trade in the UK without requiring a work permit that the bulk of non-EU inhabitants necessitate. Since the EU players are no longer permitted free movement in the UK, the work permit rules are likely to be adjusted to reflect this expansion. The UK government is required to implement a negotiation procedure to deal with foreign procedure.
Brexit will exchange the overall scenario that is generally related to free movement of the European players along with their participation in the British football club. A player with a non-EU passport requires to succeed for a work permit by playing in more than 75 percent of the side competitive games in his country for over two years. This will considerably have an impact on the way the sporting labour market in the EU will be accessed from countries such as Spain, Portugal and France. Although the UK government constricted work permit rules to control the global players playing their trade in the UK however, a player from the top-10 states will be able to play in 30 percent of their games. The substantial impact of Brexit will force the clubs to look inwards and grow home-driven players that will ultimately benefit the UK football in the long-run. Strict sanction due to Brexit will make it difficult for the Premier League to sign young talent. It will be tremendously unlikely that new rules will be put into practice with perception. The footballers already facing competition in the UK require to hold their work permit until their present contracts perish. The intention of the UK government to leave the EU will become harder for the UK trades to provide football services into the remaining member states of the EU. Similarly, the UK-based firms will also find it problematic to source imperative EU expertise. At present, the UK exports one-third of the overall sports services to the EU that equals to more than half £billion (Wang, Almeida and de Oliveira, 2017). Although, these flows are not as much as total UK trade but they highlight how interdependent the UK-EU football sports industries are and how cross-border sports trade are likely to be affected due to Brexit. The UK Border Agencies have identified the Rugby Football Union as the firm has been accountable for delivering endorsements for overseas players.
The above finding has been contradicted by Oliver and Williams (2016), as they critically analyzed that Brexit might lead to benefits for intercontinental football when it is profound. This is mostly due to the fact that foreign footballs gains while playing their match in the European Union however, the opposite is not true. The probability of the UK leaving the EU is likely to leave the profitable and internationally famous UK Premier League in danger as it will lead to uncertain future. Brexit will not only weaken the Premier League but also endanger its money-spinning commercial contracts. The UK government has however, negotiated a path through immigration issues. The Premier League is a means of competitive advantage for the UK economy as it helps to generate thousands of millions for the nation each year. It has been advised that the UK government and football authorities of the nation require to contemplate steps they will necessitate to take to uphold their market positions. The United Kingdom is regarded as the preferred destination for the foreign football players who are looking for a financial benefit. According to the UK government requires replicating the future criteria and enlarging its canvas beyond the EU countries. The arrangement of the bilateral rules for footballers will not however be the first thing that will be executed by the government.
As a result, the Home Office entails to possess new work-permit regulations. Dhingra et al., (2017) further added that due to Brexit, if the EU law stops the application in the UK, the planners of sports competition will provide effective limitation on the overall foreign players that is likely to feature in match day squads. Nevertheless, some governing units will view this to be beneficial as they will be capable to distinguish in favour of the expansion of the UK qualified players. On the other hand, Brexit presents the likelihood that the league might struggle to draw television rights income. The League has a devolved interest in the maintenance of competitive league with the help of powerful single clubs. This will in turn employ the finest players globally. If the UK football clubs are not able to strive competently with their EU counterparts in the long-run, the domestic goods are likely to suffer in terms of profits that can be recognized in sale of commodities. Chadwick (2017), critically analyzed that the UK top flight is likely to become an accurately international league if they are unrestrained from the necessities to differentiate between both non-EU and EU players. All the 20 clubs associated with the Premiere League expressed care towards the part of the UK that has been still a part of the EU.
According to Moloney (2016), not only the signing amount of the foreign players will increase for the Premiere League clubs but the cost of the Premiere League suitors will also rise. The total wage bills of Premiere League clubs will also probably augment if the contracts of the foreign players get negotiated in euro other than pound. This is mainly concerned with the creation of even playing ground as well as diminishing of spending risks. The author supported his findings by taking into account the impact on Financial Fair Play that is also likely to be impacted by Brexit. An additional problem will take place if the UK government put on tariffs in order to sign diverse player processes, even though this is one of numerous government choices that will take innumerable years to be functional. The Brexit vote will however make it reasonable to hire non-Premiere League clubs from the UK. At present, the Premiere League has been very striking to overseas investors as the European Premiere League clubs will become reasonable for those investors to purchase. The topic has been demonstrated by considering one of the major attractions for the Premiere League clubs that has been foreign TV deals, which have become more gainful as compared to before. The Premiere League has been always popular until it continued its membership with the EU.
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The rules and regulations of FIFA mostly follow Article 19 that deals with the position and transfer of players. According to this article, overseas transfers are only allowed for players who are more than 18 years age (Jerabek, Ferreira de Andrade and Figueroa, 2017). The authors have supported their findings by stating that with the UK leaving the EU, the aptitude to employ the exception in Article 19 is expected to lose. Consequently, they will avoid signing members within the age group of 16 and 18 at other EU clubs. The exemption under Article 19 has been primary to the way young and talented players are hired by the UK clubs. However, losing the Article 19 omission is likely to have an impact on the UK clubs. Hence, it is decisive for clubs to sign talented players who are recognized at the initial possible occasion. This will not only limit the cost of the acquisition but also increase profits in the event of a successive sale. There is no substantial pressure on the domestic UK offices by the football clubs to make the recruitment as much creative as possible. The Premiere League has always been regarded as the fruitful sporting competition as it has a powerful domestic as well as international appeal. This will endure irrespective of the referendum result. The findings by the authors are convincing enough as by mentioning the article it became easier to comprehend the topic. It has been stated by the author that the players requires to have the confidence to control immigration both in terms of volume and types. The tangible impact on football industries is determined by the export of raw materials to the EU market. The result of post-Brexit circumstance will cause an extensive range of estimates (Ashmore, 2017). After Brexit, the football team will witness pressure regarding replacing of EU financial system related to domestic expenditure.
Methodology
The research method is described as a systematic strategy that helps to carry out a research. A research methodology describes both systematic and scientific methods that help to solve issues (Patten and Newhart, 2017). There are two types of research namely, qualitative research and quantitate research. The research method that has been conducted involves qualitative method. The qualitative policy deals with analysing historical data, academic articles, reports, journals and books. It is imperative to take into account that qualitative methods consider the factors that are determined as helpful to carry out the research. In this report the qualitative research is regarded as a semi-structured interview that is slightly underutilized. The exceptional flexibility of this research is that it involves a structured viewpoint while addressing particular dimensions. The unstructured interview will help to provide data that are not adequate enough to the research questions. As a result, the semi structured interviews have been considered. The method will comprise of focus groups that is considered as a sort of interviewing structure that is helpful to provide answers to specific research questions (Patten and Newhart, 2017).
Research Question
Has the football clubs been affected by Brexit with regard to their movement in the sports market?
Qualitative collection of data will involve semi structured interviews to provide answer to the research question. The research question will be addressed based on the viewpoint of the professionals regarding problems in the sports labour market. The semi structured interviews will be gathered by making the use of smartphones where the interviews will be recorded and collected in the form of emails for further query.
Conclusion
The essay concludes that the UK Border Agencies have recognized the Rugby Football Union as the agency has been liable for providing endorsements for foreign players. Due to Brexit, the employees belonging to sports labour market are not likely to shift to new job market that will probably have uncertain consequence on the economy. The arguments provided by different authors has been convincing as the work by the authors helped to provide an overview to the above mentioned research question. The liberty to move freely in the EU will take place at the cost of huge restrictions for signing probable players from across South America as well as Asia. The authors have clearly stated that exiting from the EU; the UK will become open to treat footballers equally from all over the world. This will in turn make it expensive to draw a pool of talents rather than reducing it. The discussion about Article 19 has made the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research. The short-run impact will be much larger however, in the long-run the clubs will concentrate on domestic-grown talent.
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