Now foreign footballers must carry ID cards

Published on Wednesday 6 January 2010 18:02

FOREIGN footballers will have to carry an identity card in future to prove who they are.

Professionals from outside the European Union playing in the UK will have to apply for a card when they renew their visas, the Home Office said yesterday.

That could include the likes of Rangers' Maurice Edu, Celtic's Zhi Zheng and Hibs' Moroccan midfielder Merouane Zemmama, as well as English-based players such as Robinho and Didier Drogba.

Currently, holders of student and marriage visas must apply for a card when it expires. A total of 130,000 visas have been issued since the scheme was launched in November 2008. From today, all skilled workers, as well as religious ministers and professional sportsmen and women, are included.

The immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said: "Identity cards are a secure and simple way for foreign nationals to prove they are entitled to live, work or study in the UK. The biometric data contained on the card ties migrants to one identity and prevents those here illegally from benefiting from the privileges of life in Britain."