Bale and Trippier to retain EU squad place in La Liga despite Brexit
British footballers Gareth Bale and Kieran Trippier will retain their status as EU squad members in La Liga, the Spanish football league confirmed on Friday.
La Liga rules allow for three non-European Union nationals to be registered in each club’s 25-man playing squad, and there were fears that Bale and Trippier’s status would change following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on 31 January last year and the finalisation of the transition period at the end of December.
La Liga, alongside the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) and the Spanish FA, announced on 31 December 2020 that British players registered in Spain before 1 January 2021 would retain their EU status until the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
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The new agreement sees an extension of these terms for the duration of the players’ contracts.
While the Real and Atletico Madrid duo will retain their status, any new British arrivals to the league will be considered non-EU players.
Should any currently registered Britons join another La Liga side they will also lose their status as EU squad members.