Originally Posted by
EalingGreen
It doesn't say "born" - just as it doesn't anywhere specify that e.g. Qatari Nationals have to be born in Qatar, either.
It is quite clear, however, that where a Qatari citizen has been born, say, in Brazil, that that "Qatari" also has to satisfy one of the four conditions set out in Article 16.
From my reading of the new rules - specifically article 15, when read in conjunction with article 16 - it appears that all dual nationals have to comply with one of the four conditions to be eligible for their chosen Association, regardless of whether one or more of their nationalities was acquired by birth, or by some other means. And as such, people born within NI are "dual nationals" within FIFA's understanding, since they automatically qualify for both British and Irish nationality*.
I do not see anything which exempts the FAI from such an interpretation. Rather, by FIFA's studied use of the phrase "...the territory of the relevant Association", I think the clear implication therein actually strengthens the IFA's case.
After all, one might argue over political concepts like 'Nationality', or 'Irishness' etc, but i have no doubt that for FIFA's purposes, the "territory" of the IFA encompasses six of the counties in Ireland, and the "territory" of the FAI the other 26.
* - Whether e.g. an NI Unionist declines to take up his Irish nationality, or a Six Counties Nationalist declines to take up his British nationality is neither here nor there to FIFA, so long as he doesn't try to play for both Irish teams at the same time, and/or that he complies with Article 18, should he decide to switch from one to the other.