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  • Talk of Brexit has dominated the news cycle for what seems like an eternity.

  • But surely Premier League soccer fans have been able to take a break

  • from all the politics and infighting just so they can follow the teams they love, right?

  • No, it seems even soccer is caught in the middle of this giant political divorce.

  • Even before the Premier League was formed back in 1992,

  • foreign players have been lighting up football stadiums across England for decades.

  • Iconic players throughout the 1990s and 2000s assisted their teams with winning league titles,

  • including Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, France's Thierry Henry at Arsenal

  • and Argentina's Sergio Aguero at Manchester City.

  • With their help, the Premier League soon established itself as the pinnacle of football leagues.

  • Let's go back to the very first weekend of Premier League fixtures in August 1992.

  • Players from 13 non-U.K. nations were on the pitch.

  • And of the 273 players from the 22 original teams, 199 were eligible to play for England.

  • Fast forward that to figures from August 2018.

  • Only 86 of 279 players qualified as English,

  • with the remaining 193 originating from 55 different nations.

  • A total of 110 non-U.K. countries have had players play in the Premier League,

  • with France flying its flag as the most represented with 206 players.

  • Players have come from as far and wide as the Faroe Islands and the Seychelles.

  • And Chelsea holds the international crown, using 157 players from outside the U.K.

  • So, it's easy to see then how the Premier League became reliant on foreign imports.

  • And with over two-thirds of current Premier League players hailing from outside of the U.K.,

  • Brexit will most certainly usher in changes.

  • Let's look at an example.

  • North London club Arsenal used 28 players during the 2018/2019 season.

  • More than 70% of those players, 20 to be exact, are from outside the U.K.

  • But most of them - 80% - are from inside the European Union.

  • So with EU nationals making up much of Arsenal's squad, what happens to those players?

  • To work out what could take place, let's look at the current rules, pre-Brexit.

  • Right now, EU nationals over the age of 18 can be transferred freely

  • between teams to play professionally in Britain.

  • This is because of the EU right to freedom of movement.

  • Players from outside the union, however, they need a work permit.

  • Currently, non-EU players have to meet certain criteria before they can join a Premier League club.

  • Now, if the Premier League, the English Football Association and the British government

  • can't come up with a post-Brexit deal, the FA has warned European players

  • that they'll have to meet those same requirements.

  • Every non-EU player has to successfully apply for a Governing Body Endorsement, or GBE,

  • from the FA before the U.K. Home Office will even consider issuing that work permit.

  • In order to qualify for that, the player must beinternationally established at the highest level.”

  • That means they have to have played a number of competitive games

  • for their national teams in the last two years.

  • But how many games depends on the ranking of their national teams.

  • For the top 10 teams in the Fifa rankings, it's at least 30% of games.

  • 11 to 20 on Fifa rankings, it rises to 45%.

  • 21 to 30, it jumps to 60%.

  • And for teams ranked between 31 to 50 by Fifa, it's at least 75%.

  • Let's assume that criteria had applied to EU nationals.

  • Arsenal may have struggled to sign one of its biggest ever signings,

  • Alexandre Lacazette.

  • Lacazette, who cost Arsenal $65 million dollars in 2017,

  • had only been capped 11 times for France at that time.

  • That falls short of the FA's requirements to automatically qualify for a GBE.

  • That means Arsenal would've had to appeal to something called the Exceptions Panel,

  • where he would have probably edged through due to his large transfer fee and wages.

  • Meaning while it wouldn't have meant a no go. It definitely would have meant a lot more work.

  • And it's not just the current generation of players that may be affected by Brexit.

  • Premier League clubs may also lose access to EU players between the ages of 16 and 18 as well.

  • While Fifa's Article 19 prevents players under the age of 18 from being transferred

  • from one country to another, transfers within the European Union are allowed.

  • That means Spaniards like Hector Bellerin and Cesc Fabregas were able to join Arsenal when they were 16.

  • But this would pose a problem post-Brexit.

  • It's estimated 20 percent of players in Premier League academies are non-British.

  • To add another hurdle, the Football Association has also proposed cutting

  • the number of non-homegrown players allowed in each squad down from 17 to 13.

  • The Premier League has pushed back on that.

  • But overall, it's estimated that more than 150 EU Premier League players

  • would soon find it tough to get visas, if freedom of movement was restricted.

  • There's always the possibility of a special exemption deal for footballers,

  • that would give them the same treatment as entertainers and musicians.

  • But if EU players are not exempt from the rules currently applied to players from outside the EU,

  • the Football Association may be inundated with appeals as clubs fight to hold onto their star players.

  • Hi guys, Adam here. Thanks very much for watching.

  • Don't forget to subscribe and comment in the places below.

  • Do let us know any other sports stories you think we should be covering on CNBC as well.

  • And we'll see you next time.

Talk of Brexit has dominated the news cycle for what seems like an eternity.

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