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There was just one small problem with Hatem Ben Arfa’s deal with Nice: he’s not allowed to play for them.
Being paid to do basically nothing is one way to describe much of the winger’s Newcastle career, but apparently on the French Riviera, when they sign a soccer player, they expect him to actually play soccer. So his Nice career is done before it ever started, thanks to a harsh and somewhat pointless FIFA rule.
Players can’t appear for more than two clubs in a season, and Ben Arfa was with Newcastle before joining Hull on loan. He didn’t play a first-team game for Newcastle, and was forced to turn out for the under-21s. Under FIFA regulations, those reserves matches count, disqualifying him from signing for Nice.
Ben Arfa denied talk he might retire age 27, but clearly the whole “frozen out” motif is playing on his mind, since he’s talking about moving to the North Pole.
“Today I’ll try to be positive and see what I can do,” he explained. “On Monday I was on the floor but coming in to training today has made me feel better. Now I just have to do the best I can for the future. The solution may be to go abroad. Would I go to Russia? I’m ready to go to the north pole just to play football again. But for now I can’t really speculate – I just have to think.”
Thinking time? He’s got plenty of that. But given his interest in remote, cold climates, it sounds like he’s issuing a come-and-get me plea to Norwegian side Tromsø, the northernmost senior club in the world, which lies above the Arctic Circle. Iceland’s produced its share of good players down the years. Or how about Greenland? Could be the perfect solution: they’re not members of FIFA.
