Brandon Sumpter set for battle with Football Australia to gain exemption to play FQPL1 in 2025

A footballer’s international rep dreams hang in the balance after a bizarre Football Australia directive targeting just 1.5 per cent of the nation’s 192 elite goalkeepers. Find out about the crazy new ruling here.

Brandon Sumpter in action for Barbados. Picture: Alison Ince Photography

Just months after achieving a lifelong dream of representing his country on the world stage, Barbados international and Football Queensland Premier League 1 goalkeeper Brandon Sumpter’s international career hangs in the balance.

The young player was the victim of a new Football Australia ruling, which prohibits international goalkeepers from competing in NPL-class competitions from next year.

According to Football Australia, across the 96 NPL top tier squads, there were 192 listed goalkeepers, of the listed number, only 1.5 per cent of players were VISA goalkeepers - which would equate to three players across those top-tier competitions.

While these numbers don’t include the lower NPL class competitions such as the FQPL1 which Sumpter competes in, he was still shocked to hear the number was as low as it is and yet Football Australia was still pushing ahead with the sudden move.

“Wow … only 1.5 per cent and they’ve brought a rule out stopping visas from playing cause we’re taking Australian positions,” he said.

“That is a lower statistic than I thought it was going to be.

“It’s definitely extremely disappointing because for me not being the tallest of goalkeepers being 5’9, I am setting a precedent for all goalkeepers that it doesn’t matter what height you are.

“Then for this rule to come out and change, sort of stumps that inspiration to the outside world especially the goalkeepers looking in that don’t really think they can make it because of their size.

“It’s just extremely disappointing that it’s only a 1.5 per cent of foreign goalkeepers in the Australian leagues for them to make this rule.”

The announcement came just a day after Sumpter had signed with a new FQPL1 club and now he is set for a battle with Football Australia, after his exemption request was knocked back this week.

“It is definitely not the news I thought I was going to be getting,” Sumpter said.

“I was hoping they would look into the case and take in what was on the plate and give me an exemption to play.

“Playing international, there is rules and stuff about being a little bit lenient to international players and stuff like that but that didn’t really go to plan.”

Sumpter’s FQPL1 efforts in 2024 earned him a maiden call-up to the Barbados national team but with the new announcement, his international career could be up in the air at a crucial time for himself and his country.

“Playing FQPL1 I got noticed by my national team and then went across and played for my country in the World Cup Qualifiers,” he said.

“It (the new ruling) will essentially stump that because I will probably be overlooked now because I won’t be playing at the higher level, I won’t be noticed as much as I would be if I was playing the same level or higher.

“They’re still going to keep an eye on me and see how I’m going but it’s a lot harder for them to decide because now obviously it’s not live-streamed, there’s less view of league.

“So it is harder for them to keep an eye and see where I’m progressing to even sort of consider having me as an option.

“The World Cup Qualifiers are next year around the same time that I left last time and so it is just going to be that little bit harder for me to get that selection now.”

The new ruling applies to all NPL-class levels, with FQPL1 falling into the NPL2 category.

“I signed the contract the day before they released the press conference, essentially they said the contract is not valid because I wasn’t registered,” he said.

“But no player is really registered unless they’re on a couple of year deal - not just a season deal.

“So no one has really been registered, so they have said it’s not valid but no one has registered anyone at the moment.

“People have already made moves to sign people and get them to commit to the team and then they register for the team in pre-season.”

Sumpter said his disappointment was shared by the Barbados Association, who wrote a letter to Football Australia to try and plead their goalkeeper’s case to gain an exemption.

“They helped write a letter to help push to get me an exemption because they obviously want to look at me for the World Cup Qualifiers next year, so they want me to be performing at the level that I should be so they can use me,” he said.

However, not all hope is lost for Sumpter yet, as he is set to take his case to a FIFA arbitrator to try and reverse the decision.

“I am trying to go to the arbitrator which is sort of the FIFA guy for Football Australia to plead my case to him and see if maybe he will shed a different light on the story,” he said.

“So I am still not going to stop fighting trying to get an exemption but I still have to weigh up my options and I can only take it so far unfortunately.”

Brandon Sumpter (right) before a FIFA World Cup Qualifier for Barbados. Picture: Supplied.

One of the main reasons the move was implemented by Football Australia was to further the development of Australian goalkeepers.

“The National Premier Leagues across the country play an important role in the elite performance pathway, supporting the development of Australia’s youth and senior national team players,” a Football Australia spokesperson said.

“Goalkeeping is a specialist position and unlike outfield players, teams tend to retain the same goalkeeper for an entire season and often for multiple seasons, limiting opportunities for emerging goalkeepers.

“The more places in NPL team rosters which can be allocated to the best emerging Australian talent will only create further depth and competition within our goalkeeping ranks, which will enhance the A-Leagues and national team prospects.”

However, while Sumpter agreed goalkeeping is a specialist position, he maintained the inclusion of international goalkeepers only helps strengthen the Australian talent.

“I do agree with them that goalkeeping is a very special position but limiting it to being only Australians doesn't actually help the player get better,” he said.

“When I was at Thunder I took time out to coach a lot of the younger goalkeepers to sort of inspire them to continue down the path of being a goalkeeper and stuff like that.

“With a lot of the goalkeepers with Zac (Vellacott) being a number two (for SWQ Thunder), having the rivalry pushed him to get better as well as me to get better.

“Even though they are saying it is for the development of Australian goalkeepers, having that competition and that healthy competition or rivalry helps create more of a development than it is just throwing people that aren’t ready for that level into the deep end essentially.”

In the few cases where there were foreign goalkeepers taking up NPL competition spots, Sumpter believed those circumstances were only helping the Australian understudies.

“For me, I’ve been all over the world for football, I’ve been to Dubai, England, Argentina, back to Barbados, Germany,” he said.

“So I can bring in a lot of experience outside of Australia, which show a different viewpoint for the goalkeepers that are then learning off of me, wanting to get better than me, trying to essentially kick me off my pedestal to take my position which pushes players to get better.”

With Sumpter already agreeing to play next year and signing a lease, he will most likely be forced to play FQPL2 if his appeal is turned down.

However, the 22-year-old has refused to let this potential set back hinder his development.

“I am just going to train as hard as I can and try and improve myself even if it means playing at a lower level, it doesn’t mean I have to drop my standards, so I will try my best to keep improving,” he said.

Originally published as Brandon Sumpter set for battle with Football Australia to gain exemption to play FQPL1 in 2025