Yesterday, the RFEF released a statement announcing that the processing of all non-EU licenses would be put on hold. This would affect the signing of star player Caroline Weir, as she is Scottish.
Click here for the original document. Continue reading for the translation:
Circular No. 2 Non-EU foreign player licenses in the First Division of Women’s Football In accordance with article 28 and the Second Additional Provision of Royal Decree 1835/1991, of December 20, on Sports Federations, the issuance of sports licenses for non-EU foreign players is conditional on the existence of an agreement between the Royal Spanish Federation of Football, the Women’s Professional Football League, and the Majority Union on the maximum number of licenses of this type that could be issued. If an agreement is not reached, it would be the Higher Sports Council who should set that amount. Given that, at this time, said agreement has not yet been established and with the sole objective of not conditioning any type of negotiation in this regard, the RFEF informs that the processing of NEW licenses for non-EU foreign players is suspended in clubs that have teams in the women’s professional competition until said agreement is reached, or, where appropriate, resolved by the CSD, this being the only mechanism provided for in current legislation to define the maximum number of non-EU foreign players who can play in an official competition in Spain and, therefore, an essential precondition for the RFEF to be able to issue the corresponding licenses in accordance with current legislation. This measure does not affect the requests for processing the license renewals of all those non-EU foreign players with a professional license who had a valid contract deposited with the RFEF before June 30, 2022. Said renewals may be extended up to the end of the contract deposited before June 30, 2022 without extensions agreed subsequently, unless the renewal request was, at the time, within the maximum quota of players agreed between the RFEF, the LPFF and the Union or, where appropriate, decided by the CSD. What is communicated is for general knowledge and for the appropriate purposes.
In short, there must be an agreement between the RFEF, the Women’s Professional Football League, and the Majority Union to issue licenses to non-EU players. Currently, this agreement has not been established, according to the RFEF. This is a new issue because it has to do with the formation of Primera Iberdrola as a professional league, which is set to take place for the 2022/23 season.
This is frustrating news, as it will put Weir’s ability to play for Real Madrid on hold, but hopefully it will be resolved quickly. It is in the interest of everyone involved to allow clubs to sign some amount of non-EU players.
However, for now, Madrid will need to take this into account if they intend to sign Kathellen Sousa, who is a Brazilian center-back.