Fielding of expatriates: European rankings
Issue number 351 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs in 31 top divisions from UEFA member associations according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by expatriates.
The highest value overall was recorded for the Greek side Aris FC (98.4% of minutes), while Udinese Calcio (88.0%) tops the rankings for big-5 league clubs ahead of Chelsea FC (86.8%).
LOSC Lille, RB Leipzig and Atlético Madrid are the most foreign-oriented clubs in the other three major European championships, while Rangers FC tops the table in Scotland, Boavista FC in Portugal, Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey and SBV Vitesse in the Netherlands.
The notion of expatriates refers to footballers who grew up in a different association from that of the employer club.
Only two teams out of the 474 surveyed did not field any expatriate player in domestic league games: the Ukrainian side FK Desna and the Basques of Athletic Club.
The CIES Football Observatory is also happy to unveil that an improved version of the Demographic Atlas with current season’s data is now available here. Enjoy the tool!
About the CIES Football Observatory
The CIES Football Observatory is a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). Created in 2005 by Dr. Raffaele Poli and Dr. Loïc Ravenel, the CIES Football Observatory currently comprises a staff of four full-time permanent researchers who specialise in the statistical analysis of football. Click here for more information.
About the CIES
The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Click here for more information. Click here for more information.
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