I would imagine that if Diego were to get citizenship before 5 years from now that the USSF would win an appeal to FIFA on his behalf since he's lived here most of his life. That said, until he gets married there's no other way (that I know of) to speed up the citizenship process so it's all a moo point. And of the subject of marriage, my offer stands, Diego.
It might be a pipe dream, but it's much more plausible today than it was before. Prior to getting a green card, he had no timeline. Now he has one. It's still a long one - 5 years+ means he still wouldn't be eligible for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. But because Fagundez is so young, he still could become a citizen by the age of 23. That's before a ton of guys on our team got their first cap, and he would still be in the age range to be a factor for the 2022 and 2026 cycles. Now obviously he's talented enough to make the jump abroad and thus interfere with this timeline. But given his level of production, it's possible to me that he is given an Omar Gonzalez like DP offer to stay in MLS for a few more years. Also, what do you mean he wouldn't meet FIFA rules for adding a new national team eligibility? Is that because he appeared for the Uruguay U20s? I thought those weren't official games.
No idea on the process for getting straight answers from FIFA *before* a player plays a match. I do think they need to better explain the two eligibility paragraphs for those who moved as children, but right now, it's pretty black & white.
[quote="BostonRed, post: 28901141, member: 195304" That's why we said getting Diego is a bit of a pipe dream.[/quote] You don't think chances look good. Bro, we got it.
Here are some posts I put on another thread: https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...and-immigration.1831047/page-23#post-28826461 https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...and-immigration.1831047/page-23#post-28827773 https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/...and-immigration.1831047/page-23#post-28826140 Article 7 appears to cover this situation and I don't see an out. Maybe there are additional rules or interpretations that I can't find online. I did find a FIFA statement that where you play your soccer is your place of residency. I found a bunch of stuff about Adnan Januzaj in England, but the Home Countries Agreement complicates that. Even in that situation, everyone is saying that the 5 years residency after 18 is required. Not sure how any player who is naturalized can play for his new country before age 23.
So my understanding is that Nagbe essentially is going to easily hit the five year requirement because he has two years at Akron and three in MLS?
I can't see FIFA making a big deal about it. Not in the case of players like Fagundez and Raul Mendiola who have lived here all their lives. It just goes against the spirit and the intent of the rules. If either of them (or someone else in a similar situation) were to somehow get naturalized before they were 23, I just can't see FIFA acting like we're trying to pull one over on intent of the rules. I mean as long as it takes to get US citizenship in post-9/11 America, it's fair to assume that if you get sworn in, you've lived here long enough that's obvious that this isn't just a grab to help the national team.
Yes. He's already 23 and has lived in the US since before he was 18. What I don't know is if he could leave in a few months (once he has the 18 months physical presence requirement for citizenship down) and play overseas for that last year or so. The FIFA rule only states 5 consecutive years after age 15, so I assume he would be okay to move at that point as long as it didn't interfere with his citizenship plans.
Perhaps, but most of the rulings are due to a protest by the opposition after we play someone. I could see a WCQ opponent protesting in such a situation and then it's up to a players' status committee to determine eligibility. Sunil is the deputy chair right now, but you don't want to rely on less-than-clear interpretations. Maybe the best thing to do is to play the new guy in a friendly and encourage the opponent to protest...
Didn't we have a discussion where it appears this rule may not be in effect? (Correct me if I'm wrong). ----------- Freddy Adu didn't live in USA 5 years after 18.
You know this is a bit of a reach here but it would be cool if the Revolution could reach out to Robert Kraft, who could reach out to some congressman to propose the special citizenship thing. If he can get them to care about a ring, maybe he can get them to care about a person.
The rules have changed quite a bit since 2004. Freddy got his 1st cap in 2006. It looks like the original 2004 agreement only said you had to live in the country for 2 years. In 2008, they bumped it up to 5 years. I'm not sure when they added the two separate articles. I'll see if I can find older versions of the statutes. I would love to see if we have talked about this before, but I haven't found anything. All the talk around Januzaj got me to look at this and try to understand the 2 articles that apply. Since no one was mentioning it prior to Januzaj, I figured there must be some interpretation that I wasn't privy to. I've tried to find anything that would show that the parent acquiring a new citizenship was outside the requirement. I haven't found anything. I am more than happy to be proven wrong if I missed something.
Here's what the rules were back in 2004: VII. Eligibility to play for Association teams Article 15 | PRINCIPLE | Dated: 19.10.2003 Paragraph 1 Any person holding the nationality of a country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the Association of his country. The Executive Committee shall decide on the conditions of eligibility for any Player who assumes a new nationality and for whom par. 3 of this article does not apply, or for any Player who would, in principle, be eligible to play for the teams of more than one Association due to his nationality. Paragraph 2 As a general rule, any Player who has already represented one Association (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category may not play an international match with another Association team. Paragraph 3 If a Player has more than one nationality, or if a Player acquires a new nationality, or if the Player is eligible to play for several Association teams due to his nationality, the following exceptions apply: (a) Up to his 21st birthday, a player may only once request changing the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches. A Player may exercise this right to change Associations only if he has not played at “A" international level for his current Association and if at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition of any other category, he already had such nationalities. Changing Associations is not permitted during the preliminary competition of a FIFA competition, continental championship or Olympic Tournaments if a player has already been fielded in a match of one of these competitions. (b) Any Player who has already acquired eligibility to play for one Association but has another nationality imposed upon him by a government authority, is also entitled to change associations. This provision is not subject to any age limits. Paragraph 4 Any Player who wishes to exercise this right to change Associations shall submit a written and substantiated request to the FIFA general secretariat. After submitting the request, the Player is no longer qualified to play for his current Association’s team. The Players’ Status Committee shall decide on the request. The committee’s decision may be brought before the Appeal Committee. The Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players contain more detailed provisions. Paragraph 5 Any Players who have already had their 21st birthday at the time of implementation of these provisions and who fulfil the requirements in par. 3 (a) are also entitled to submit such a request to change Associations. This entitlement will expire definitively twelve months after implementation of this provision. These Standing Orders of the Congress were adopted by the Extraordinary Congress in Doha on 19 October 2003 and will come into force on 1 January 2004. It looks like they adopted the current rules in 2008 so Freddy would have been grandfathered.
Private bills for citizenship for athletes are very rarely done. They did one for ice dancer Tanith Belbin mostly because the rules for naturalization of "extraordinary ability" changed to a faster process after she got the Green Card, but she wasn't eligible because she already had it. So it was really more of a technical correction of the law. Other than that, the most recent athlete case was in 1987. Considering how today's Congress might look on expediting citizenship for someone who came here illegally (even as a child), I wouldn't be holding my breath.
Maybe I'm not reading close enough, but that seems to apply only to players who are changing associations.
It's a bit different than the way the rules read now, but this section was the only piece of the 2004 rules that pertained to nationality. Look at paragraph 1: Any person holding the nationality of a country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the Association of his country. The remainder of the para left parts of eligibility up to the Exec Committee, but really it was saying that citizenship period was enough to play for a team. Once Qatar and others started adding shake-n-bake Brazilians, they decided to take a different approach and that's where the 2008 rules came in. They added the grandmother/parents rule along with the 2/5 year residency requirement. Now the para. says anyone with citizenship (not dependent of residency -- blame the Israelis for that part) can represent the country and then Article 6 & 7 discuss the further requirements if one has multiple citizenships or acquires a new one. So up until about 2008, you could have the passport and play for the country. Under current rules, a David Regis wouldn't be able to play for the US.
Kyle McCarthy @kylejmccarthy 39m New England forward Diego Fagundez confirms he plans to pursue U.S. citizenship after obtaining permanent residency status this week. #mls Kyle McCarthy @kylejmccarthy 36m Diego Fagundez on international future: "I do have options. I would like to play for the U.S., but, of course, there are doors open."
You know, honestly I think it's a good idea to invite him to a U20 camp. Will he be eligible for us? Obviously not. However, it's a small price to pay to show our interest. I doubt it happens, but it should.
We've said this kind of thing about a lot of non-citizens, and I don't think US soccer has done it at the U17 level or higher. [just U14, U15, etc.] I'm in full agreement, but it's just not the USSF's thing. I mean, if Diego was one year away they might do it. But the guy is at least 5 years away and will never be eligible for any US youth teams. There's little point calling him up to a U20 camp. If Klinsmann wants to call him and invite him to train with the full USMNT at camp cupcake.......................that might make a bit more sense.
I believe they have had a few in U17 and U18 camps. And it's absolutely worth it if kid wants to play for us.
January camp would be more than fine as well. It's not much more than a recruitment visit. What do we lose? A couple grand for airfare and hotels?