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The World Cup is getting closer every day, and so people are starting to ask the question: When is the World Cup squad deadline? Other people are asking: When is the World Cup roster deadline? Which is just the same question with different terminology. Basically we all want to know when each of the 32 World Cup teams will submit their final lists of 23 World Cup players to FIFA, mostly so we can start judging them. Also because it would make our World Cup team profiles a lot easier to write.

Unfortunately it’s hard to get a straight answer on exactly when this deadline is. There’s a May 11th deadline for submitting a 30 man preliminary squad to FIFA, but no publicly available fixed deadline for cutting that 30 man squad down to 23. FIFA’s official World Cup 2010 Regulations document states only that the 23 man squad is required “prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular.” Presumably this circular has been sent only to football associations and such, but a recent quote from France coach Raymond Domenech would seem to suggest said deadline is June 1st:

“They must be clever and forget their ego to realise that the only thing that matters is the team, not them,” Domenech told French daily L’Equipe in an interview published on Tuesday. “If they don’t understand that, I will need a gun. We’re only supposed to give our final squad on June 1.”

So there you have it. Sort of. Below you’ll find the relevant section of the official FIFA document:

26. List of players, rest period, preparationphase – final competition

1. Each association that qualifi es for the fi nal competition shall send FIFA a list of 30 players (showing the full last name(s), all fi rst names, popular name, place and date of birth, passport number, club and country of the club, height, weight, number of caps won, number of goals scored) whom it has called up in accordance with the relevant provisions of Annex 1 of the FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players. The release list of 30 players must be sent to FIFA by 11 May 2010 (30 days prior to the kick-off of the opening match).

2. The release lists of 30 players will be published by the FIFA general secretariat.

3. Each association will then be required to provide FIFA with a final list of no more than 23 players (three of whom shall be goalkeepers). This final list is limited to the players on the release list. The association must send this final list to FIFA prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular.

4. The final list of not more than 23 players (showing the full last name(s), all first names, popular name, number on the shirt, position, place and date of birth, passport number, club and country of the club, height, weight, number of caps won, number of goals scored) shall be submitted to the FIFA general secretariat, using the official form for this purpose. Only the numbers 1 to 23 may be allocated to these players, with number 1 being reserved exclusively for one of the goalkeepers. The shirt numbers for the remaining two goalkeepers may be any of the numbers between 2 and 23. The numbers on the back of the shirts shall correspond with the numbers indicated on the final list. Only these 23 players (except in cases of force majeure recognised by the FIFA Organising Committee) will be permitted to compete in the final competition.

5. The final lists of 23 players will be published by the FIFA general secretariat.

6. A player listed on the final list may only be replaced in the event of serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team’s first match. The replacement players do not need to be limited to the release list of 30 players. Such replacements must be approved in writing by the FIFA Medical Committee upon receipt and acceptance of a detailed medical assessment in one of the four official FIFA languages. The FIFA Medical Committee will approve the request if the injury is suffi ciently serious to prevent the player from taking part in the competition. The participating member association shall inform FIFA accordingly of the player’s full details (cf. art. 26, par. 4) at the same time as when submitting the request to replace the injured player.

7. All 23 players shall be named on the list of players for each match (11 selected players and 12 substitutes). Up to a maximum of three of the substitutes may take the place of the selected players at any time during the match.

8. Not more than 23 people (11 offi cials and 12 substitutes) shall be allowed to sit on the substitutes’ bench.

9. Before the start of the final competition, all listed players must prove their identity, nationality and age by producing their legally valid individual passport with photograph (stating day, month and year of birth). Any player who fails to submit his passport will not be allowed to take part in the final competition. Every player must also sign a declaration of compliance wherein he agrees to submit to these Regulations.

10. To protect players from burn-out before the final competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the following dates shall apply:

16 May 2010

Final match day at club level for the 30 players nominated on the release

lists for the fi nal competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

17-23 May 2010

Mandatory rest period for the players on the release lists. Players of the

two teams involved in the UEFA Champions League Final on 22 May

2010 will be granted permission to play, by way of exception, by the FIFA

Executive Committee.

24 May – 10 June 2010

The preparation phase for the participating members associations in the

final competition of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Source: Regulations, 2010 World Cup South Africa, pages 33 to 35, retrieved April 14th, 2010.

So again, here’s how it seems to work:

* May 11th is the deadline for preliminary 30 man World Cup squads. If you don’t make this list of 30, you’re basically not going.

* Deadline for cutting this 30 man squad down to 23 is “prior to the kick-off of the opening match in accordance with the deadline stipulated in the relevant FIFA circular.”

* The recent quote from Raymond Domenech seems to suggest that said deadline has been circulated, and is June 1st.

* However, other media outlets disagree. ESPN recently claimed the deadline was June 5th.

* Seems this Deutsche Presse-Agentur release is where ESPN got the June 5th date from, but said release also believes the preliminary squads will be made up of 35 and not 30 players, which directly contradicts the FIFA doc.

* So, basically we’re not sure. But “early June” would be a good guess for the actual deadline, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of teams named their squads even earlier than that.

Three other thoughts:

* Why does FIFA need to know every player’s weight? Will they be making a special World Cup edition of The Biggest Loser?

* The document clearly states that every 23 man squad must contain three goalkeepers. So anyone arguing for their squad to take only two keepers and an extra outfield player should cease and desist.

* FIFA should just make the final deadline date public. It’s almost as if they’re paying more attention to the coaches and federations than they are to this blog.