Good work Danny but opinions that Yann has about the statutes differ from what FIFA do in practice. IMO, Yann is not putting value on why the eligibility statutes are there in the first place but is overly focussing on the wording of the statute to define its raison d'etre and bases his opinions about the statute based on the wording of the statute and not on Fifa practice and the evolution of the statutes and this is glaringly so in the the example of new republics being born out of dying entities.
We here have already noted some lack of clarity but what we depend upon is how FIFA practice, their practice defines the interpretation of the statute.
I say FIFA will not oppose the international eligibility to a minor or child when that player has moved to the new country as part of his/her family and not for football motivated decision. Fifa have a clear distinction in the
Transfer of players on this
Article 19 .2
The following three exceptions to this rule apply:a) The player’s parents move to the country in which the new club is
located for reasons not linked to football.
And that has also been FIFA practice in relation to international eligibility, regardless if the player was a child or a minor and there are plenty of examples around europe to support that since 2008, in France and Switzerland.
Yann call this an exception by Fifa, IMO this is not an exception, but I say it's just Fifa reserving the right to revue each case and decide on its merits, and what constitutes a positive merit is that the family have move for reasons other than football, a regular immigration. A young player like Noe Baba does not get an exception so that he can be eligible for Ireland, he just satisfies the statutes as they are meant to be interpreted.
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