Some of the best young talents at this summer’s World Cup include Bayer Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza and Malik Tillman, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Can Uzun and Bayern Munich’s domestic-double winner Josip Stanisic. It also features Juventus’ Kenan Yıldız and PSV’s Paul Waner. Despite being born in Germany or going through the academy system in the country, none of them will be playing for Germany on the world’s biggest stage this summer.
They all hold dual citizenship and have chosen to field for Türkiye, Algeria, the United States, Croatia or Austria. Whether for sporting, emotional or family reasons, or because he hoped doing so would boost his career, his choice against Germany is also a conscious choice. This development has shaken German FA (DFB) director Andreas Rettig.
Are Germany’s best young players choosing to play elsewhere?
Most of the above footballers are regular starters at their clubs, and some of them are among the best players in their respective positions. As Rettig notes, given that youth international players spend 50 to 70 days a year under the supervision of the DFB, they could all play important roles in the Germany team.
“More than 40% of children under five in Germany have a migrant background. This gives them the option to choose one country over another,” Rettig told DW.
They fear this figure is sure to increase the number of potential international players willing to switch allegiance.
“We must take this issue seriously to ensure that we do not end up in a situation where many of the players who trained here leave to seek their fortunes elsewhere,” Rettig said.
‘Trending in the wrong direction’
Last year, Rettig revealed his vision of a “training compensation” scheme aimed at changing the current situation.
“Training must yield results – both for the person being trained and for the trainer,” the 63-year-old stressed. “I want us to develop a system in which training is rewarded, and where we can reinvest that training compensation back into grassroots development.”
The idea behind this is simple. The training cost per player per day will be accurately calculated from which compensation can be claimed. All parties involved will be informed in a transparent manner, with the aim of deterring players from other countries from poaching.
Rettig emphasizes that his aim is not just to secure financial compensation for the DFB, but to benefit the entire football world.
“We need to raise awareness that every association needs to invest in training,” the DFB director said, adding that some national associations “put more money, time and effort into scouting players than training them.”
Rettig believes this is a step in the wrong direction and hopes that a transparent training compensation system, like the one he is proposing, will curb this behavior and encourage investment in domestic youth development.
‘The eagle on the chest is no more important than the crescent moon’
High-profile cases, such as Maza, who had 13 caps for German youth teams but chose to represent Algeria, or American international Tillman (21 youth caps for Germany), or Ozcan, who was capped an incredible 61 times for Germany in his youth but will go to the World Cup with Turkey, have sparked considerable debate within the DFB. Nevertheless, Rettig stressed that he respects every decision, provided it is not taken hastily.
“We are not saying that the eagle on the chest is more important than the crescent moon or any other national symbol,” Rettig said. “I just want to make an immediate appeal, such a decision [switching national allegiances] It shouldn’t just be based on this question: ‘Where can I get playing time quickly?'”
Instead, he believes it is important to provide players with a credible long-term vision.
“I don’t think we would be advised to get young players dreaming too early,” Rettig said.
After all, a player’s development path is rarely linear, and not every player will appear in a Champions League or World Cup final until the age of 17. For this reason, Rettig would like to see more patience from players when considering a change of nationalities.
Decisions must come from the heart
“Playing for your country is the biggest achievement for a player,” Rettig said.
“It must be a decision taken from the heart – a decision taken in favor of the country with which the person feels the deepest connection.”
The ultimate goal of the DFB is to reach the point where young players coming through its system don’t even consider changing national associations in the first place.
“We need to strengthen this emotional bond – to redouble our efforts across all age groups,” Rettig said. Cologne City Gazette.
Next stop: FIFA
To make the ratings scheme or anything like that effective, FIFA will have to implement new rules globally. The DFB’s next step will be to formally submit its proposal to football’s international governing body. Although it is still unclear when that might happen, Rettig is optimistic that his idea will get a fair hearing. After all, Germany is by no means the only country affected by “nation-hopping.”
He added, “Certainly, even FIFA has no interest in seeing the sense of identity with its competitions and its overall value diminished due to an increasing number of nationality changes.”
This article is taken from German language.