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Kolpak ruling
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<h2 id="court-ruling">Court ruling</h2> <p>The Court of Justice's <a href="/facts/Bosman_ruling/dvg0lMXu">Bosman ruling</a> in 1995 declared that, in accordance with the <a href="/facts/EC_Treaty/JVG01BHk">EC Treaty</a> rules regarding <a href="/facts/Freedom_of_movement_for_workers/JXqwLnHD">freedom of movement for workers</a>, no citizen of the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a> should be restricted from working in another part of the EU on the grounds of their nationality. For example, a <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">German</a> <a href="/facts/Association_football/yttjeD0D">football</a> team could not be prevented from signing a <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greek</a> player, because both nations are members of the EU. </p><p><a href="/facts/Maro%25C5%25A1_Kolpak/c8C4gdLd">Maroš Kolpak</a> was a Slovak <a href="/facts/Handball/VyPkv7Mf">handball</a> player, who was legally resident and working in Germany, and had been playing for the German second division handball side TSV Östringen since 1997. The <a href="/facts/German_Handball_Association/LoBITTL5">German Handball Association</a> had a rule (Rule 15) which prohibited its member clubs from fielding more than two non-EU citizens. At that time, <a href="/facts/Slovakia/gmJwpwM3">Slovakia</a> was not yet a member of the European Union (it joined the EU in May 2004), and therefore the <a href="/facts/Bosman_ruling/dvg0lMXu">Bosman ruling</a> did not apply to its citizens. Slovakia did however have an <a href="/facts/European_Union_Association_Agreement/f5ggJDEV">Association Agreement</a> with the European Union. </p><p>Kolpak was ejected by his club in 2000 because they had filled their quota of two non-EU players. Kolpak challenged the German Handball Association, claiming that Rule 15, by treating him differently from German citizens, placed an illegal restriction on his freedom of movement as a worker. The German Handball Association held that equality of treatment applied only to citizens of European Union countries (as per the Bosman Ruling) and not to non-EU citizens. The case was referred by the German <a href="/facts/Oberlandesgericht/Aytpzjwr">higher court</a> to the <a href="/facts/European_Court_of_Justice/yhkq7Y7Q">European Court of Justice</a>, for a determination on whether the Association Agreement between Slovakia and the European Union provided equal rights for Slovak workers who were living and working legally within the EU. The Court ruled in favour of Kolpak. </p><p>Thus the Kolpak Ruling declares that citizens of countries which have applicable <a href="/facts/European_Union_Association_Agreement/f5ggJDEV">Association Agreements</a> with the EU, and who are lawfully working within an EU country, have equal rights to work as EU citizens, and cannot have restrictions such as quotas placed upon them. Such countries include those within the <a href="/facts/African%2c_Caribbean_and_Pacific_Group_of_States/dg9LNcld">African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states</a>, such as South Africa, Jamaica and Zimbabwe. </p> <h2 id="implications-for-sport">Implications for sport</h2> <h3>Cricket</h3> <p>In practice, the decision allowed English county cricket clubs to employ the services of a multitude of overseas cricketers, especially from South Africa. Prior to the Kolpak ruling <a href="/facts/England_and_Wales_Cricket_Board/AIK0QGdY">ECB</a> rules had limited each county to one overseas (non-EU) professional. </p><p>County cricket clubs could already employ any number of EU residents under the <a href="/facts/Bosman_ruling/dvg0lMXu">Bosman ruling</a>. However, there were no other <a href="/facts/Test_cricket/m6LrScYJ">Test cricket</a> nations within the EU except (from 2017) Ireland; this explains why it was Kolpak, not Bosman, which had a significant impact on English county cricket. The largest group of countries with an association agreement with the EU is the <a href="/facts/African%2c_Caribbean_and_Pacific_Group_of_States/dg9LNcld">ACP Group of States</a>, which includes South Africa, <a href="/facts/Zimbabwe/8Yqt8490">Zimbabwe</a>, and many of the nations that supply the <a href="/facts/West_Indies_cricket_team/cAg3txg4">West Indies cricket team</a>. </p><p>The English and Wales Cricket Board ruled that a player must not have represented their own country for over twelve months in order to qualify for Kolpak status, but after South African <a href="/facts/Jacques_Rudolph/w5yWsJan">Jacques Rudolph</a> signed for <a href="/facts/Yorkshire_County_Cricket_Club/KbDrvmfX">Yorkshire</a>, they admitted that this rule was unenforceable.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>In an effort to combat the influx of Kolpak players, the ECB linked the central payments made to counties to the number of English qualified players who play for that county. That meant that every game a Kolpak player played instead of an English qualified player, a county received £1,100 less from the ECB.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Because that was classed as a way of encouraging counties to develop young players who could go on to play for England, rather than a restrictive quota system, it was legal under the EU rules.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> However, the system did not result in a significant drop in the number of Kolpak players, because counties chose to continue to sign foreign players, rather than maximise their handout from the ECB.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> The influx reached a peak in 2008 when, during a match between <a href="/facts/Northamptonshire_County_Cricket_Club/YD78JbKk">Northamptonshire</a> and <a href="/facts/Leicestershire_County_Cricket_Club/MzXdjc8h">Leicestershire</a>, half the players on the field were from non-EU countries.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>In 2008, the EU changed its reading of the <a href="/facts/Cotonou_Agreement/rBqpBD4K">Cotonou Agreement</a>, the Association Agreement between the EU and the ACP countries.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> It then stated that the Cotonou agreement should not be interpreted as mandating free movement of labour, but rather the free trade of goods and services. The Home Office was subsequently able to introduce new rules placing restrictions on Kolpak players, stating that only those who had held a valid work permit for four years had the right to be treated the same as EU citizens.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>After <a href="/facts/Brexit/M80B3fIg">the UK withdrew from the European Union</a> on 31 January 2020, the Kolpak ruling ceased to have any effect there at the end of 2020.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h3>Rugby</h3> <p>In rugby league and rugby union, the Kolpak ruling has allowed teams to sign many players from <a href="/facts/Fiji/JU8Hs8WH">Fiji</a>, <a href="/facts/Tonga/oX5vwTer">Tonga</a>, <a href="/facts/Samoa/lyQ1B9YV">Samoa</a> and <a href="/facts/South_Africa/vvXQpLgq">South Africa</a>, all of which are also ACP countries. Many rugby union clubs have also signed South African players under Kolpak, most notably the French team <a href="/facts/RC_Toulonnais/SjBEktQI">RC Toulonnais</a> and English team <a href="/facts/Saracens_F.C./QQWXPoMR">Saracens F.C.</a> </p><p>In a related issue, <a href="/facts/New_Zealand_national_rugby_union_team/bj4jtf4c">New Zealand</a> player <a href="/facts/Andrew_Mehrtens/k8GQDd5a">Andrew Mehrtens</a>, who was born in <a href="/facts/Durban/ADRqGHGy">Durban</a>, decided to pursue a South African passport when he signed with the English side <a href="/facts/Harlequin_F.C./Hnzq1XF0">Harlequins</a> for the <a href="/facts/National_Division_One_2005-06/gtsaHkfn">2005–06 National Division One season</a>, as it would enable the club to sign another non-EU and non-Kolpak player. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Bosman_ruling/dvg0lMXu">Bosman ruling</a>, a similar case covering freedom of movement for EU citizens</li> <li><a href="/facts/List_of_Kolpak_cricketers/Nf1X3wvS">List of Kolpak cricketers</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes-and-references">Notes and references</h2> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62000CJ0438">Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 8 May 2003. Deutscher Handballbund eV v Maros Kolpak.</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070623101645/http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en&Submit=Rechercher&alldocs=alldocs&docj=docj&docop=docop&docor=docor&docjo=docjo&numaff=C-438%2F00&datefs=&datefe=&nomusuel=&domaine=&mots=&resmax=100">Link to ECJ documents related to decision</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100510142628/http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/publications/kolpak-ruling,499,BP.html">Kolpak ruling</a></li> <li><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/3529413.stm">Counties fear Kolpak</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"'Fully committed to the path going forward' – Wayne Parnell on his international return". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 November 2021. <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/fully-committed-to-the-path-going-forward-wayne-parnell-on-his-international-return-1290732" target="_blank">https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/fully-committed-to-the-path-going-forward-wayne-parnell-on-his-international-return-1290732</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Cricinfo Staff (30 March 2007). "Rudolph to play for Yorkshire under Kolpak". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2009. <a href="http://content.cricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/287993.html" target="_blank">http://content.cricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/287993.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Luke, Will (25 September 2005). "ECB respond to influx of foreign signings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2009. <a href="http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/220424.html" target="_blank">http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/220424.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>ECB 'can stop foreign influx' – BBC News, 9 April 2004 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/3613439.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/3613439.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>ECB will fight SA player influx – BBC News, 13 May 2008 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7398604.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7398604.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>ECB wins overseas player battle – BBC News, 26 October 2009 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8325975.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8325975.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Kolpak numbers could be slashed – BBC News, 28 July 2009 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7518580.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/7518580.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>ECB wins overseas player battle – BBC News, 26 October 2009 <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8325975.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/counties/8325975.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"'Fully committed to the path going forward' – Wayne Parnell on his international return". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 November 2021. <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/fully-committed-to-the-path-going-forward-wayne-parnell-on-his-international-return-1290732" target="_blank">https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/fully-committed-to-the-path-going-forward-wayne-parnell-on-his-international-return-1290732</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>