Editing Serie A (section)

===Non-EU players===
Unlike [[La Liga]], for example, which has long imposed a quota on the number of players able to play for each club who hold passports from countries that are not in the [[European Union]], Serie A has undergone many rule changes concerning the number of [[non-EU]] players clubs could sign.

During the 1980s and 1990s, most Serie A clubs signed a large number of players from foreign nations (both EU and non-EU members). Notable foreign players to play in Serie A during this era included Irish international [[Liam Brady]], [[England national football team|England internationals]] [[Paul Gascoigne]] and [[David Platt (footballer)|David Platt]], [[France national football team|France]]'s [[Michel Platini]] and [[Laurent Blanc]], [[Lothar Matthäus]] and [[Jürgen Klinsmann]] from Germany, [[Netherlands national football team|Dutchmen]] [[Ruud Gullit]] and [[Dennis Bergkamp]], and [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]]'s [[Diego Maradona]].

In the middle of the 2000–01 season, the old quota system, which limited each team to having no more than five non-EU players and using no more than three in each match, was abolished.<ref name=provision>{{cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=ita/news/newsid=28321.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604164248/http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=ita/news/newsid=28321.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|title=Italians bar non-EU imports|date=2002-07-17|access-date=2010-03-09|publisher=[[UEFA]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/1005793.stm|title=Milan challenge non-EU rule|date=2000-11-03|access-date=2010-03-09|work=BBC Sport}}</ref> Concurrent with the abolishment of the quota, the FIGC had investigated footballers that used fake passports. [[Alberto do Carmo Neto|Alberto]] and [[Warley Silva dos Santos|Warley]], [[Alejandro Da Silva]] and [[Jorginho Paulista]] of Udinese;<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/football/europe/962023.stm | work=BBC News | title=Fake passport scandal hits Serie A | date=2000-10-08 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> [[Fábio Júnior Pereira|Fábio Júnior]] and [[Gustavo Bartelt]] of Roma;<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/low/football/europe/1318504.stm | work=BBC News | title=Lazio hit with passport charges | date=2001-05-08 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> [[Dida (footballer, born 1973)|Dida]] of Milan; [[Álvaro Recoba]] of Inter; [[Thomas Job]], [[Francis Zé]], [[Jean Ondoa]] of Sampdoria; and [[Jedaias Capucho Neves|Jeda]] and [[André Leone|Dede]] of Vicenza were all banned in July 2001 for lengths ranging from six months to one year.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/internationals/players-banned-over-false-passport-scandal-675847.html | work=The Independent | location=London | title=Players banned over false passport scandal | first=Frances | last=Kennedy | date=2001-06-28 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> However, most of the bans were subsequently reduced.

At the start of the 2003–04 season, a quota was imposed on each of the clubs limiting the number of non-EU, non-EFTA and non-Swiss players who may be signed from abroad each season,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=ita/news/newsid=57329.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604164303/http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/association=ita/news/newsid=57329.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2011|title=Italy blocks non-EU players|date=2003-03-05|access-date=2010-03-09|publisher=[[UEFA]]}}</ref> following provisional measures<ref name=provision/> introduced in the 2002–03 season, which allowed Serie A and B clubs to sign only one non-EU player in the 2002 summer transfer window.

The rule underwent minor changes in August 2004,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/82.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_6696_lstAllegati_Allegato0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 090 del 25 agosto 2004|date=25 August 2004|access-date=6 December 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> June 2005,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/23.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_6561_lstAllegati_Allegato0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 225 del 13 giugno 2005|date=13 June 2005|access-date=6 December 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> June 2006,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/61.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_6800_lstAllegati_Allegato0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 7 dell' 8 giugno 2006|date=8 June 2006|access-date=6 December 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/74.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_6799_lstAllegati_Allegato0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 8 dell' 8 giugno 2006|date=8 June 2006|access-date=6 December 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> and June 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/84.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_2834_lstAllegati_Allegato0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 023/A del 21 giugno 2007|date=21 June 2007|access-date=6 December 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref>

The number of non-EU players was reduced from 265 in 2002–03 season to 166 in 2006–07 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/26.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_2636_upfDownload.pdf|title=COMUNICATO STAMPA: CONSIGLIO FEDERALE|date=21 June 2007|access-date=17 July 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> This reduction also included players who received EU status after their respective countries joined the EU (see [[2004 enlargement of the European Union|2004]] and [[2007 enlargement of the European Union|2007 enlargement]]), which made players such as [[Adrian Mutu]], [[Valeri Bojinov]], [[Marek Jankulovski]] and [[Marius Stankevičius]] EU players.

The quota system changed again at the beginning of the 2008–09 season: three quotas were awarded to clubs that do not have non-EU players in their squad (previously only newly promoted clubs could have three quotas); clubs that had one non-EU player had two quotas. Those clubs that had two non-EU players were awarded one quota and one conditional quota, which was awarded after: 1) Transferred 1 non-EU player abroad, or 2) Release 1 non-EU player as free agent, or 3) A non-EU player received EU nationality. Clubs with three or more non-EU players had two conditional quotas, but releasing two non-EU players as free agent only gave one quota instead of two.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/45.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_19186_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=Comunicato n° 003/A del 3 luglio 2008/|date=2008-07-03|access-date=2010-02-01|publisher=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> Serie B and Lega Pro clubs could not sign non-EU players from abroad, except those that followed a club promoted from [[Serie D]].

On 2 July 2010, the above conditional quota was reduced back to one, though if a team did not have any non-EU players, that team could still sign up to three non-EU players.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/35.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_25259_StrilloAreaStampa_upfDownload.pdf|title=Coumunicato Stampa|trans-title=Press Release|date=2 July 2010|access-date=3 July 2010|work=The Federal Council|publisher=FIGC|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/it/204/25260/2010/07/News.shtml|title=Su extracomunitari, vivai, Club Italia e Settori le prime misure della FIGC |date=2 July 2010|access-date=3 July 2010|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/29.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_25280_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=C.U. N°6/A (2010–11)|date=5 July 2010|access-date=13 November 2011|work=FIGC|language=it}}</ref> In 2011 the signing quota reverted to two.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.figc.it/Assets/contentresources_2/ContenutoGenerico/83.$plit/C_2_ContenutoGenerico_29022_StrilloComunicatoUfficiale_lstAllegati_Allegato_0_upfAllegato.pdf|title=C.U. N°6/A (2011–12): Tesseramento extracomunitari|date=5 July 2011|access-date=22 August 2016|work=The Federal Council|publisher=FIGC|language=it}}</ref>

Large clubs with many foreigners usually borrow quotas from other clubs that have few foreigners or no foreigners in order to sign more non-EU players. For example, [[Adrian Mutu]] joined [[Juventus FC|Juventus]] via [[A.S. Livorno Calcio|Livorno]] in 2005, as at the time Romania was not a member of the EU. Other examples include [[Júlio César (football goalkeeper, born 1979)|Júlio César]], [[Victor Obinna]] and [[Maxwell (footballer, born 1981)|Maxwell]], who joined Inter from [[A.C. ChievoVerona|Chievo]] (first two) and [[Empoli FC|Empoli]], respectively.