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Visitor Visa and the Professional Sportsperson clause

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square-leg
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Visitor Visa and the Professional Sportsperson clause

Post by square-leg » Mon Mar 25, 2024 11:04 pm

Hi everyone,

I have a friend (X) from India visiting the UK this summer on a Standard visitor (tourist) visa.

Two pieces of info that are important for my question.
  • I was hoping X could play some cricket at the same cricket club I do. We play in an Amateur league and of course, everyone at our club plays in an amateur capacity i.e. nobody is paid. We are a small community club
  • X is on the coaching staff of a professional team in India
The cricket club is required to register new players with the league organisers. While going through the forms, someone at the club said X cannot play for the club as he is a Professional Sportsperson (PS), according to Home Office guidelines. Based on my understanding the Professional Sportsperson category is defined in order to prevent people (other than those granted leave specifically under relevant visas) from undertaking activities in the UK that could be described as engaging as a PS. Therefore, in X's situation, he can visit the UK and play sport that is at an amateur level, which is purely for personal enjoyment. There is nothing said anywhere about what the person's status in his/her current country is, but is only to guide on what activities are legal/illegal for them to perform in the UK.

Reference links:
https://www.carterthomas.co.uk/2019/01/ ... rtsperson/
Cricket specific: https://resources.ecb.co.uk/ecb/documen ... h-2023.pdf

The second links shows clearly that under the Standard Visitor Visa category, X can play cricket at an Amateur level.

Am I interpreting all this correctly? If so, what might be the best way to get some sort of confirmation from the Home Office that it is ok for X to play? I'd like to put our club's hierarchy at ease.

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Frontier Mole
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Re: Visitor Visa and the Professional Sportsperson clause

Post by Frontier Mole » Mon Mar 25, 2024 11:19 pm

Engaging in any activity that would be classed as work paid or unpaid breaches the visit visa requirements.
I would suggest playing at an amateur level could be within the scope of the visit visa. Coaching in any shape or form is most definitely outside the scope of the visit visa.

Your biggest challenge might be the ECB - my previous experience is they don’t look favourably on such players being part of any level within their control. You will probably find that other clubs are likely to report the player to the ECB.

My advice would be to contact the ECB for advice and guidance on your proposal.

The other issue is gaining the visit visa - if any mention is made regarding cricket it is likely that will ring alarm bells.

The Home Office will not engage with you or the club - they will push it to the ECB

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Frontier Mole
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Re: Visitor Visa and the Professional Sportsperson clause

Post by Frontier Mole » Mon Mar 25, 2024 11:24 pm

On the upside I know of two clubs in the South East that have managed to get through the maze but they still got a hard time from the clubs in their respective leagues. There is a feeling that there are under the table payment smears. So it comes with other considerations, that your club may not want to contend with.

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Re: Visitor Visa and the Professional Sportsperson clause

Post by square-leg » Tue Mar 26, 2024 8:19 am

Thanks for your thoughts @Frontier Mole.

Point taken on the coaching aspect. Even a unpaid/volunteer role is clearly outlined as being in breach of the rules. A few players have come from abroad and played for us while on their travels but I think the sticking point here is that X is classified a 'pro' in his home country because of his coaching role. Personally I don't think it'll even register on the radar of other clubs - X is nearly 40 and never actually played at the pro level!

I get your point though and what I think doesn't matter. I'm not interested in getting my club in an uncomfortable position for the sake of 4 weeks of cricket.

I'll explore a few channels with the ECB and see what they say.

Thanks again!

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