“Devalue the national teams”
Rudi Völler calls for FIFA to change the rules
May 30, 2026 – 9:31 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
DFB sports director Rudi Völler is bothered by a FIFA rule. He is calling for a change, although the DFB has also partially benefited from the regulation.
Rudi Völler has criticized the rules for young players changing associations from one national team to another and suggested simplifying the processes. “This nation-hopping is really bad and also devalues the national teams,” said the DFB sports director of the Funke media group.
“It can’t be the case that players can constantly decide who they want to play for. That’s not good,” said Völler shortly before the DFB team’s World Cup test against Finland on Sunday (8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online) in Mainz. Recently there have been several cases in which talents have chosen other national associations.
World Cup players could also have played for Germany
The World Cup could also feature professionals who could have played for the German national team, such as Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza for Algeria or Frankfurt’s Can Uzun for Turkey.
The DFB squad also includes numerous players who would previously have been eligible to play for other nations. Jamal Musiala played in England’s youth team before his DFB career. Bayern defender Jonathan Tah reported at the DFB camp in Herzogenaurach that the association of World Cup opponents Ivory Coast had made contact before the 2014 World Cup.
“I was 17 or 18 years old when they approached me. But then I turned it down relatively quickly,” said Tah. In 2016 he was part of the DFB squad for the first time at the European Championships in France.
Malick Thiaw, who was born in Düsseldorf, could have played for Finland or World Cup participants Senegal because of his parents’ origins, but he chose Germany.
“It must be an honor to play for Germany”
National coach Julian Nagelsmann has always approached the issue pragmatically and emphasized that he never wanted to persuade a player. “It must be an honor to play for Germany,” said the 38-year-old. The decision cannot be made for a young player.
Völler particularly complains about the relatively late opportunity to choose another association. If you were previously committed to a country by playing in an A-international match, you can now change your mind if you have played a maximum of three A-international matches without playing in a tournament, these took place before you were 21 and at least three years have passed since the last one.
Völler thinks it’s too complicated. “Why isn’t there a simple rule to decide which country I’m playing for when I’m 18 at the latest? That would be the best solution. That’s my firm belief,” said Völler.
