Jimmy Bermúdez Valencia (born 16 December 1987) is a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Ecuadorian

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club CD Olmedo. Born and raised in Colombia, he was a member of the Colombia national under-20 team and, as a naturalized citizen, of the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Club career

Born in

Puerto Tejada, Cauca Puerto Tejada () is a town and municipality in the Cauca Department, Colombia. History Puerto Tejada was officially made a town on September 17, 1897, in Monte Oscuro (Dark Mountain), named after General Manuel Tejada Sanchez. During the 18th and ...

, Bermúdez can play as

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He played for LDU Loja in two editions of

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

(

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and

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International career

Baermúdez was a starter for Colombia in the

2007 South American U-20 Championship The 2007 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericano Sub-20) was the 23rd edition of the competition. It was played in Paraguay between 7 and 28 January 2007, and was contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. This was th ...

. In May 2013, Bermúdez was purchased by the Equatoguinean football team, which then he began to represent, received Equatoguinean citizenship and getting

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3,000 for each match played.

Controversy about eligibility

Bermúdez recognizes that he is not of Equatorial Guinean descent, but considers he can represent the African country as he has not played for Colombia at senior level. According to FIFA's rules, footballers should be holders of the second nationality at the time of playing youth international matches with the original country. This rule has already been applied in the similar case of Portuguese-based Brazilian footballer

Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

. Additionally, when Bermúdez made his international debut with Equatorial Guinea, on 8 June 2013, he had spent his entire club career in Colombia and Ecuador. This aspect violated, thus, the condition D of the relevant current FIFA statute about the eligibility of a player, ''Article 17: Acquisition of a new nationality'', which says: «He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant Association». Bermúdez was never punished by any of these two situations.

References

External links

* * 1987 births Living people Association football central defenders Colombian footballers Sportspeople from Cauca Department Colombia youth international footballers Categoría Primera A players Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Envigado F.C. players Atlético Huila footballers Águilas Doradas Rionegro players Categoría Primera B players Atlético F.C. footballers Ecuadorian Serie A players L.D.U. Loja footballers Ascenso MX players Atlante F.C. footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Equatorial Guinea Naturalized citizens of Equatorial Guinea Equatoguinean footballers Equatorial Guinea international footballers Equatoguinean people of Colombian descent Leones Vegetarianos FC players {{Colombia-footy-defender-stub