FIFA rule leaves Sheffield Wednesday with limited options for striker decision
Sheffield Wednesday have two choices when it comes to the remainder of Bailey Cadamarteri’s season.
The 19-year-old has had a pretty successful loan spell with Lincoln City in the first half of the 2024/25 campaign, scoring seven goals across all competitions so far, however his game time has still been relatively limited and he has completed 90 minutes in just one of the 23 games that he has played.
Neither Danny Röhl nor Imps manager, Michael Skubala, have seemed overly concerned about the situation despite some fans hoping to see him start more matches, and a decision made back in August means that there aren’t many options anyway.
The Star has a dedicated Sheffield Wednesday WhatsApp Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click here to join
“Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. During this period, the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs,” says FIFA’s Regulations.
“As an exception to this rule, a player moving between two clubs belonging to associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumn as opposed to winter/spring) may be eligible to play in official matches for a third club during the relevant season, provided he has fully complied with his contractual obligations towards his previous clubs. Equally, the provisions relating to the registration periods as well as to the minimum length of a contract must be respected.”
Cadamarteri’s cameo in the Carabao Cup win over Hull City means that he’s already played for two clubs this season, so he can’t – as some have mentioned – be recalled from his Lincoln loan in favour of joining somebody else… He can only play for the Owls or the Imps.
Speaking recently, Skubala spoke about how Wednesday were happy with how things were going over at Sincil Bank, suggesting that there was no concern over him being pulled back, and with his gametime likely to be even more limited at S6 behind the likes of Michael Smith and Iké Ugbo it would, on the face of it, make sense to leave things as they are.