European Commission: a study on the assessment of the "home-grown player" rule

"It cannot be categorically established at this stage that the restrictive effects of the rule on the free
movement of workers are proportionate to the very limited benefits of the rule in terms of
competitive balance and the training and development of young players", that is one of the findings of an independent study on the assessment of HGP (home-grown player) rule, conducted by the Universities of Liverpool and Edge Hill (England) for the European Commission and published on the 08/28/2013.

Adopted by UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) in 2005 and implemented during the 2008/09 season, this rule requires clubs involved in the Champions League and Europa League to include at least eight home-grown players in the group of maximum 25 players that will be aligned in European Championships. Up to half of the eight home-grown players must be from the club itself, with the others being either from the club itself or from other clubs in the same association.

The concept of home-grown player has been developed to enhance the promotion and protection of the local training of…