Player eligibility row

[geysir]

In a nutshell, IN ANY EVENT the alleged gentleman's agreement does not apply to Daniel Kearns.

[co. down green]

Seriously ****-poor journalism by BBC NI.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...sh/9044215.stm

Hard to beleive that the guy who penned this article gets paid for a living!

[geysir]

'The Court of Arbitration for Sport has admitted that the ruling regarding N Ireland-born players opting for the Republic is "unfair" on the IFA.'


Where exactly do CAS state that the FIFA rules were unfair?
Simple answer is, they don't - not in the slightest.

[Dodge]

Page 23
79. 'The Panel noted that IFA also advanced an alternative argument that Mr Kearns had shared nationality because, as an Irish national (irrespective of his British nationality), he could play for either IFA or FAI and Mr Hunter asserted that it had always been the case that the IFA could select Irish nationals with a territorial connection to Northern Ireland. The absence of Irish nationality from the commentary on Annexe 2 is, he submitted, inconclusive. It was apparent to the Panel that the factual basis for the assertion was controversial and disputed by the FAI’s counsel. Since neither the factual nor legal basis for this argument was sufficiently established, the Panel is in no position to find in its favour'.

The correct answer is the IFA can only select British citizens for its representative teams. Yes it is a dual national statelet but it is still inside the UK, therefore only the British nationality is relevant to selection for the IFA teams.

And, the IFA refused to an agreement proposed by FIFA aloing those exact lines. The FAI were willing to agree that citizens of Ireland, regardless of where they resided, could play for Northern Ireland

[Dodge]

'The Court of Arbitration for Sport has admitted that the ruling regarding N Ireland-born players opting for the Republic is "unfair" on the IFA.'


Where exactly do CAS state that the FIFA rules were unfair?
Simple answer is, they don't - not in the slightest.

They mention that the "one way" system of NI lads being able to play for ROI but not the other way arund is unfair.

EDIT; page 21, Art 70.

And BTW I'm not for one second defending the article which seems to select a tiny morsel of comfort for the IAF in a pretty damning overall judgement

[geysir]

Not quite.
The Court is required to give an account of the evidence presented. Part of that evidence is documentation which preceded the compromise proposal. CAS do not interpret FIFAs rules as being unfair they simple state FIFA's reason for offering the proposal. Part of that reason was that the regulation resulted in unfair “one-way situation”.. This was FIFA wording at the time pre compromise proposal.

[Dodge]

Sorry, I misread your original post. of course the "unfair" comment was talking about the letters between IFA and FIFA

[SaucyJack]

Just seen that Preston youngfella Adam Barton pulled out of the NI full squad to keep his "Options Open"... Is he elligable for us??? Or is his "Option" England in this case??

It's his English option
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...sh/9044523.stm

[Stuttgart88]

OTF with him then.

[TrapAPony]

It's his English option
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...sh/9044523.stm

If he qualifies to play for Northern Ireland wouldn't that mean that he qualifies for us then?

[geysir]

Yes he qualifies for us, the FAI's territory includes the 6 counties and therefore those descended from those born in the 6 counties qualify for both the IFA and the FAI.

'FAI territory' is that space of land where the new born are automatically entitled to Irish citizenship, not just the piece of land it has football jurisdiction over.

[Predator]

The IFA have been dealt a 'double-whammy' today. The full CAS ruling released, exposing the IFA as being foolish, and another fast-tracked youngster pulling out of their squad.

I wonder will young Barton be castigated in the media and by their fans as severely as Shane Duffy, Darron Gibson and Daniel Kearns were?

[shaneker]

That ruling really does make the IFA (or maybe it's more fair to say the IFA's lawyers) look like total idiots. Their case pretty much amounted to not being able to read. Relying on a 'linguistically strained' (as we in the business say) interpretation of the FIFA Statutes, which made absolutely no sense, and attempting to interpret the 2009 Eligibility regulations in the light of on an informal agreement from SIXTY years ago in an area which has changed out of all recognition in that time, is outright lunacy. A first year law student could see that this was a totally, totally unrealistic position.

It should never have gone this far, but please now it's done.

[Gather round]

I wonder will young Barton be castigated in the media and by their fans as severely as Shane Duffy, Darron Gibson and Daniel Kearns were?

Possibly. I wouldn't waste your sympathy though- if he didn't want to play, he could have told Worthy privately any time in the week between his invitation and the public announcement. It looks like he, or his agent, have deliberately created a story which might help him get a transfer into the Prem. I imagine that's more of a priority for them than an international cap- he's much less likely to get one from England.

[Predator]

Fair point and something I actually overlooked, but how likely is it? These media storms can certainly help to boost the profile of a player, but by how much, I'm not so sure.

Did Barton merit inclusion based on his form? Or is it likely that Worthington included him simply in order to tie him to the IFA? Being cynical, I'd guess that it was the latter and, while I can understand why Worthington would do so, I don't think it is the best course of action - especially when one considers that it has already backfired twice. However, I suppose the IFA will feel that the odd media storm in a teacup can be tolerated if it means one talented youth gets tied.

[Lionel Ritchie]

I wouldn't be surprised if PNE were in the lads ear to hang about. Worth way more to them as a future England international than pretty much any other nationality out there.

[Gather round]

Fair point and something I actually overlooked, but how likely is it? These media storms can certainly help to boost the profile of a player, but by how much, I'm not so sure

It's certainly been successful, at least as a first step- plenty of nationwide BBC coverage today, not just in NI.

I think teenage footballers are less naive than widely assumed- and even where they are, almost invariably streetwise agents are about.

Did Barton merit inclusion based on his form? Or is it likely that Worthington included him simply in order to tie him to the IFA? Being cynical, I'd guess that it was the latter and, while I can understand why Worthington would do so, I don't think it is the best course of action - especially when one considers that it has already backfired twice. However, I suppose the IFA will feel that the odd media storm in a teacup can be tolerated if it means one talented youth gets tied.

On form, I'd say no. He's played 11 games in D2, I believe. People like McCann and Feeney, although now dropped down a level, are more experienced which we'll need against Italy. And realistically Worthy can't take the Faeroes lightly, even if the players do. We'd be quite pleased to scrape a 1-0 win. So no rush of debuts for fringe players there.

Agree that the manager is being cynical and I too think it unwise. I suppose the justification would be that with such a small pool we have to try everything.

As I'm sure you'll agree, no-one is strictly tied: if they can't be bothered to commit, like S. Ireland or Biggles McCartney, they'll just bugger off. The players just don't seem as hardcore as you or I

I wouldn't be surprised if PNE were in the lads ear to hang about. Worth way more to them as a future England international than pretty much any other nationality out there

Perhaps, but the realistic alternatives were him leaving Preston in January as a NI international, or as just another promising D2 youngster. Capello won't cap a championship player, except maybe as a keeper in a brainstorm.

[ifk101]

Did Barton merit inclusion based on his form? Or is it likely that Worthington included him simply in order to tie him to the IFA? Being cynical, I'd guess that it was the latter and, while I can understand why Worthington would do so, I don't think it is the best course of action - especially when one considers that it has already backfired twice. However, I suppose the IFA will feel that the odd media storm in a teacup can be tolerated if it means one talented youth gets tied.

That's my line of thinking as well (ie tie him to NI asap) which I suspected was also the case with Johnny Gorman's inclusion in the NI squad for the game against Slovenia.

There was a video interview with Nigel yesterday on the BBC site where he said he last talked to Adam Barton six weeks ago to gauge his interest in playing for the NI seniors (Barton was subsequently contacted by Beaglehole 10 days - 2 weeks ago to tell him he was in the squad). If I'm not mistaken it was just six weeks ago that Barton was coming into the Preston first team. Therefore I don't think Nigel's initial approach had anything to do with Barton's "current" league form. Similar to the capping of Johnny Gorman with a minute to go in a competitive fixture, Barton's inclusion in the squad was to tie him down to NI before the beggars came a knocking.

It's probable that with Shane Duffy and the CAS ruling, Nigel and the IFA believe this is the approach they need to take from now on - ie cap them young and early.

[geysir]

You hardly ever hear a car backfiring these days but the IFA are bucking the trend like a mistimed Trabant.

[dantheman]

I reckon there must be an FAI agent somewhere in the IFA Board Of Management.

They bring incompetence to new levels!!