Brussels, 04/08/2008 (Agence Europe) - Nihat Kahveci, the footballer, won his case at the European Court of Justice last week. He will now be able to benefit from the same conditions as his European team-mates under the ECC-Turkey association agreement. The Turkish striker will therefore not be affected by Spanish regulation limiting the number of players from third countries who can play in national matches (C-152/08). His legal representative, Juan de Dios Crespo, explained that this decision applied to all Turkish players in other member states, as well as any player whose country has a similar agreement with the Union. Mr Kahveci, from Turkey, has been playing for the Spanish team, Villareal, since 2004. He requested that the Spanish football association (Real Rederación Espanola de Futbol, “RFEF”) gave him a licence identical to that for Community players. In support of his appeal, he drew on the EEC-Turkey association agreement signed in Ankara in 1963. An amendment to this agreement in 1980 stipulates that member states from the Community avoid any discriminatory treatment involving nationality of Turkish workers who are gainfully employed. The ECJ ruled that the REF regulation limiting the number of non-Community players to a team, could therefore not apply to Turkish players. (C.D. /transl/rh)