Quota players is a term in sport referring to the limit of foreign players on a domestic team.

Rugby league

Professional and semi-professional rugby league clubs playing in the British rugby league system (i.e., the Super League, Championship, and League 1) are restricted in the number of foreign players permitted in their squad. Since 2021, this is a maximum of seven 'non-Federation trained players', which is defined as players who did not play rugby league for three seasons within the European Rugby League prior to the age of twenty-one.

History

As of 2019, Super League clubs were permitted to have a maximum of five foreign passport holders in their squad. Additionally, they were permitted no more than seven non-Federation trained players. Passport holders from any EU nation or a Kolpak nation were not considered foreign passport holders. For the Canadian-based Toronto Wolfpack, American, Canadian, and Jamaican players do not count towards the foreign quota. After the Widnes Vikings went into administration in 2019, Krisnan Inu, Wellington Albert, and Adam Tangata were exempt from the overseas quota for the duration of their next contract after they were released by Widnes. Previously, the maximum number of foreign players for each Super League club was three. Harlequins RL were permitted four quota players as they are considered to be a non-heartland team. The Welsh team Crusaders is allowed 14 overseas players and French side Catalans Dragons are allowed eight non-French players. Championship teams were only allowed one quota player, aside from Toulouse who have five foreign players.

2023 Super League quota players

Australian-born Lachlan Lam of the Leigh Leopards is considered a Federation-trained player as he played rugby league as a child in Wigan during his father Adrian's playing career.