Players from African, Carribean and Pacific countries will no longer be considered as non EU by the Spanish La Liga. This is in accordance with the Cotonu accord, signed by the European Union and the ACP ( African, Carribean, Pacific States) in Benin in June 2000.

Spain has a rule which allows domestic clubs to sign only four players of non European nationality. Further, only three players can be named in the squad for a game. The move will allow for more South American talent to flow in, as Africans will no longer be considered as non European. Previously, if you had to free up a spot occupied by an African, you would have to wait till he acquired Spanish nationality.

Players who might be affected by the new ruling include

Samuel Etoo- Cameroon ( Barcelona)

Yaya Toure- Ivory Coast ( Barcelona)

Arouna Kone- Ivory Coast ( Sevilla)

Mahamadou Diarra- Mali ( Real Madrid)

Carlos Kameni- Cameroon ( Espanyol)

There are a number of players of African descent in the NFL too.

Many of you happen to follow NFL football. The National Football League , or the NFL as it is popularly known, is divided into two conferences, each consisting of 16 teams. The AFC and the NFC are the names of the two conferences, and each conference has four internal divisions. Let us take the example of an American football team.

Eg- The Baltimore Ravens play in the AFC. They are part of the Northern Division, along with the Bengals, Browns and the Steelers. They are a new team, having been founded as recently as 1996.