‘Ridiculous’ reason FIFA won’t let Scottish boy play for U15 team
FIFA may be busy dealing with worldwide headlines regarding corruption in the organisation, but it is still determined to enforce certain rules, no matter how ludicrous the circumstances.
In order to stop European clubs poaching potential stars from Africa and South America, there are strict rules in place around registering young players in countries other than where their parents live.
Fifa bans schoolboy Louis Scott from English club because he's Scottish https://t.co/7oh4BoN5Fn
— The Lady J of Tay (@brawday) May 31, 2016
But the same rules are now being invoked to stop a Scottish teenager playing for an English side.
Louis Scott is in boarding school in Lancashire, and would like to play for nearby Cadley FC.
But FIFA are blocking the move, because his parents still live in Scotland.
“I was going to play for the team and register with them,” he explained yesterday on BBC radio. “I sent the registration forms in, everything done, but it came back saying you can’t register, you can’t play for them.”
“The main reason was because my parents weren’t living in England at the time.”
Louis’s case was referred by the English FA all the way to FIFA in Switzerland, but the organisation insist that the rules must apply in the case.
To add insult to injury, he has been told it’s fine for him to train with the club. He just can’t play matches.
"It's quite ridiculous, quite strange,” Louis said. “Lots of boys must come from all over the world to play football in England and their parents don’t live in England. I'm sure they're registered, it’s unfair."
FIFA told the BBC it had a request from the FA and replied by referring the FA to the applicable provisions of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and relevant jurisprudence of the competent deciding authority, i.e. the Sub-Committee of the Players' Status Committee.
