DFL Ordinary Assembly adopts new minimum age for player licensing

2 April 2020 – At its meeting on Tuesday, the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga’s Ordinary Assembly adopted a new minimum age for players in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Paragraph 14 Number 1 of the Player Licensing Rules is to be amended such that youth players may be issued a player licence once they reach the age of 16. The DFL is thus aligning its statutes with those of many other national football leagues in Europe. The change will take effect from the 2020-21 season.

The DFL “Football” and “Academies” Commissions looked at the motion in advance and supported it. According to the current rule, a licence can only be issued to “Under-19 players of the younger and older age group and Under-17 players of the older age group once they reach the age of 17”. In the current season, the youngest age at which a player can be granted a licence is therefore 16 years and six months. The youngest player in Bundesliga history was Nuri Sahin (now at SV Werder Bremen), who debuted for Borussia Dortmund in the opening game of the 2005-06 season at the age of 16 years, 11 months and one day.