Because an Irish national choses to play for NI doesn't mean he choses to be identified as a British national at any time in his life and not even when he lines out for NI.
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I wasn't referring to the rationality or fairness of the idea, I was referring to the idea in the hands of the IFA and considering their recent farcical approach over their recent decision to shy away from changing the anthem.
I suspect with some, the spirit of the Ulster covenant would be revived.
It's meaning is that it means he can play for Northern Ireland - quite a meaning, in context, don't you think?
A Republic Of Ireland Passport does not in itself confirm as players eligibility to play for Northern Ireland.
A player can travel on whatever Passport he likes - akin to one of your UK born players traveling on as British Passport.
That's a mere .... 'technicality', the FIFA match official accepts an Irish passport as sole sufficient proof of identity and eligibility. There is absolutely no other check done by FIFA. There is no other demand by FIFA on the player. There's no need for the player to be aware in the slightest that he's a british citizen, just an Irish national lining out for an obviously British team.
Do match officials have the authority to request proof of eligibility? An Irish passport is sufficient for identity but to establish proof of eligibility you would at least need to demonstrate an entitlement to British citizenship.
geysir is, not for the first time, confused on the issue.
A Republic Of Ireland Passport does not confirm eligibility to play for Northern Ireland - a Republic of Ireland Passport confirms that you are a Citizen of the Republic Of Ireland. In order to play for Northern Ireland it is a prerequisite that you are a British Citizen.
Whilst a player does not have to hold a British Passport, and can travel on a Republic Of Ireland Passport, the IFA must prove that the player is eligible (ie. a British Citizen) by other means - a birth certificate, for example, would suffice.
FIFA "require players to hold the passport of the national association they are seeking to represent in order to allow the match commissioner to verify their eligibility"
So the match official require players to present their passports for inspection to show that at least the player is in the ballpark of eligibility. The passport details are certainly recorded.
A UK passport does not mean a player is eligible for NI, just as an Irish passport does not mean a player is eligible for NI.
Oh, I think you are.
"It is true that the IFA, as permitted by FIFA, allow players who possess just an Irish passport to represent them, but when these players represent Northern Ireland, they are officially doing so in light of their right to British nationality. In this instance, their passport fulfils such purposes as identification and travel, but it does not necessarily prove possession of the only nationality under which one can qualify to play for Northern Ireland; that being British nationality. Officially, Northern Ireland, as a British entity, represents only the British nationality on the international stage. The eligibility of Northern Ireland players to play for the IFA who possess solely an Irish passport must still otherwise be ascertained and certified for FIFA by the IFA. Irish nationality does not qualify a player to play for the IFA’s teams for the simple reason that Irish nationality is administered by the law of Ireland; it is not a nationality governed or provided by the law of the United Kingdom, or Northern Ireland"
Source:
FIFA Player Eligibility in the Context of Ireland: The Actual Rules, the Real Facts and Dispelling the Prevailing Myths. Daniel Collins.
FIFA leave it to the individual associations to ascertain and certify a player's eligibility, i.e a player who is born on their territory.
The IFA do not have to present birth certs of the players who only hold an Irish passport.
And even if the player did have to present a birth cert to the IFA to prove that he was born in NI, does not endow that player with an iota of a sense of British identity.
And where on earth did I claim anything to the contrary?
The British citizenship means diddly squat, if a player wants it to mean diddly squat.
"There's no need for the player to be aware in the slightest that he's a british citizen, just an Irish national lining out for an obviously British team."
But according the GFA..............
(Backs slowly out of thread)
By playing for Northern Ireland, a player is confirming/exercising his British Citizenship.
That he additionally holds Citizenship of the Republic Of Ireland is neither here nor there in the context of eligibility for Northern Ireland, and playing for Northern Ireland.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...?newsfeed=true
Rory Donnelly, Daniel Lafferty and Shane Ferguson are included in the latest NI squad by Michael O'Neill.