Saw this article in another thread and nobody had commented on the poland info. Is he going to play for them instead of us?http://skysports.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=169527&cpid=8 "Szetela is a talented midfielder, who is currently applying for Polish citizenship, and starred in the recent World Under-17 championships in Finland
I'm pretty sure he's just doing that so he doesn't need a work permit, which would allow him to sign with any team IE in england without a work permit etc etc...
I'd hope he was doing this so he could play in England, but if he does want to play for Poland I supopse thats his choice. I wouldn't call it abandoning however. Question: how we would he be able to play in a league other than USA and Poland? You know, Fifa does not allow the transfer of children and whatnot. Isn't he in the same category as Freddy Adu? Unable to sign a contract out side of the country of his citizenship because of his age?
I think it would be different than the Adu case because Poland is in the EU. Also, I think the transfer restriction on children doesn't apply if your 18 and over. I beleive Szetella is 17. I'm guessing it's a fairly lengthy proccess to acquire Polish citizenship. He could be doing so he'll have it by the time he's 18 and won't have to worry about work permits.
The same way Spector could sign a deal. He holds a passport to an EU country (well soon to be EU country and is given the same status as having an EU passport since they will join in May of 04) therfore he can sign a deal with any team in any country that is part of the EU.
EU employment laws make it so that the each nation is a state in the United States of Europe, for employment purposes.
Spector was able to sign his deal because he signed it before the new FIFA ruling came into effect. It was in one of Gersman's articles from Topdrawer actually. Thanks for the clarification superdave
Point #1: As I understand the rule, Szetela is cap tied to the United States. He's allowed to switch to another country after a youth cap, _only_ if he's eligible for that country when he got that cap. Since Szetela is apparently applying for Polish citizenship now, he wouldn't be eligible to play for poland. Point #2: Poland is scheduled to join the EU next year. When that happens, Szetela will be able to circumvent the rule due to his EU passport.
Well, before that, IIRC, that's how Timmy H. made it in with Hungary only EU eligible. Even if your country hasn't officially joined the EU, if it's eligible, you're in. Or at least, not held back for that reason.
Actually, the home office clarified things and that isn't the case. Howard got his Work Permit the hard way, he won it on an appeal. The EU rule, clarified, was that _when_ thoe countries join the EU, it's citizens will be eligible to work immediately rather than having to wait for the process of applying for the EU passport to complete. So Szetela would still have to wait.
Spector has a german passport, that 18 years rule does not affect movement of EU citizens as far as I know. 16 and 17 year old players move regularily within Europe. Though the football associations of the various countries have some rules of their own regarding the age at which a pro contract can be signed.