Lapira to Consider International Future

[Noelys Guitar]

Joe's first day at Ibrox
http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/pl...php?id=1857485

[Metrostars]

Ealing Green is mixed up and sensitive over the dual nat issue.

A friendly is an A Level match.

Joey is tied to us forever

(a) Up to his 21st birthday, a player may only once request changing the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches. A Player may exercise this right to change Associations only if he has not played at “A” international level for his current Association and if, at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition of any other category, he already had such nationalities.

The exception to this rule doesn't apply.

"An exception to this rule is contained in art. 15.3 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes. A player whose nationality entitles him to play for more than one association (as is the case with the UK passport) or who is holder of more than one nationality, can apply to change association. This possibility, however, is limited to those players who have not played at “A” international leve

Wrong. You to read the full length of the rule instead of parsing and highlighting bits:

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affe...5fpdf%5f52.pdf

2. With the exception of the conditions specified in par. 3 and 4 below, any Player who has already represented one Association in a match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football may not play an international match for a representative team of another Assocoation.

3. If a Player has more than one nationality, or if a Player acquires a new
nationality, or if a Player is eligible to play for several Associations’ teams due to nationality, he may, up to his 21st birthday, request to change the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches to the Association of another country of which he holds nationality, subject to the following conditions:

(a) He has not played a match (either in full or in part) at “A” international
level for his current Association, and if at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition for his current Association, he already had the nationality of the Association’s team for which he wishes to play.
(b) He is not permitted to play for his new Association in any competition
in which he has already played for his previous Association. A player may exercise this right only once.

The important part is paragraph 2. Lapira played in a friendly, not "an official competition" so paragraph 3 doesnt apply. If he had played say a U-21 Euro qualifer, then paragraph 3 would apply. He can be 44 and played 20 friendlies for Ireland and can still switch to the US as long as he has not played in "an official competition".

Ealing... There's no salary restriction for individuals in MLS. Yes, there's a salary cap for each MLS team as a whole (and exceptions to that too). Perhaps you are referring to the fixed salary of Development or Project 40players. Despite that, the MLS, which holds the player contract, could decide to pay the individual a lot more if that's what would be needed to have him sign. Eg. Freddie Adud, Eddie Gaven, Danny Szetella.

There's nothing in MLS that rewards a team for employing USA-eligible players. There is a quota about how many furriners can be on a roster. That quota has no connection to salary.

Right about rewarding USA players. But there is a salary cap for players which I think is $400K. Obviously, the DP rule(Beckham) overrides that along with other exceptions such as high earners like Donovan, Adu and Eddie Johnson.

Also, I very much doubt Lapira would get a call up to the US team. Everyone who gets a call up to the senior team have played for the US at underage level.

[geysir]

Wrong. You to read the full length of the rule instead of parsing and highlighting bits:

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affe...5fpdf%5f52.pdf
The important part is paragraph 2. Lapira played in a friendly, not "an official competition" so paragraph 3 doesnt apply. If he had played say a U-21 Euro qualifer, then paragraph 3 would apply. He can be 44 and played 20 friendlies for Ireland and can still switch to the US as long as he has not played in "an official competition".

Nice try
I quoted the very relevant bits.

"match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football"
What do you think any kind of football means? read it again.
"an official competition of any category" here refers to FIFA's criteria.
An A international is official. Its in FIFA's ranking system, much to the distress of some board members

Or if you can find one example to support your interpretation.

[cclinton]

Right about rewarding USA players. But there is a salary cap for players which I think is $400K. Obviously, the DP rule(Beckham) overrides that along with other exceptions such as high earners like Donovan, Adu and Eddie Johnson..

in reality, players in MLS will get paid according to the best deal they can strike for themselves through a varying combination of sources, either directly from the league itself or funding from a sponsor such as Nike and Adidas.... a player's total remuneration is market driven. The $400K item is an illusion. Yes, it was a salary control item when the league was getting started, but it's now of no significance.

Also, I very much doubt Lapira would get a call up to the US team. Everyone who gets a call up to the senior team have played for the US at underage level.

Who are, Thomas Dooley, David Regis and Jay DeMerit?

by the way, David Regis is the poster child for the laPIRA debacle... but he did get a World Cup appearance, out of it .... married a US bird and effectively grabbed a passport on the way to the teams WC training camp Others deserved to play before him, but in right place at right time.

[Metrostars]

Nice try
I quoted the very relevant bits.

"match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football"
What do you think any kind of football means? read it again.
"an official competition of any category" here refers to FIFA's criteria.
An A international is official. Its in FIFA's ranking system, much to the distress of some board members

Or if you can find one example to support your interpretation.

No. Official competition means World Cup/qualifiers, European Championships/qualifiers, Copa America, Concacaf Gold Cup etc. Friendlies are not Official Competition.

A few examples off the top of my head: Jeff Cunningham played a friendly for Jamaica but is now a US international. Chris Armas 9 caps for Puerto Rico, 66 for the US.

Also, this is an email from the FAI when someone from bigsoccer asked about Lapira a few months ago:

"Hi Ciaran

Thank you for your query. According to FIFA regulations a player who has
already represented one Association in a match (either in full or part) in an
official competition or any category may not play an international match for a
representative team of another Association. However a player may request a
change of Association from FIFA up to his 21st birthday.

As Joe Lapira has only represented the Republic of Ireland in a friendly match,
he would not be tied to this Association.

I hope this information is of assistance to you. For further information you
can find the FIFA regulations on the FIFA website - www.fifa.com.

Kind regards

Mr. Chris Ryan
International Department Manager
Football Association of Ireland"

[Billsthoughts]

i dont often laugh out loud when i read Foot.ie but that thought was so funny, thanks

ssssh! they lock any threads in the Ireland forum that might be interesting or fun!!! "STAY ON TOPIC!!!!!"

[Bluebeard]

As this was a Senior, A international sanctioned by FIFA - he's stuck in limbo now, as I can't see any manager picking him after this drivel (not that he would have made the grade anyway)

Sure about that?

[KopKiller]

He's rubbish, should never have got near the squad

[geysir]

No. Official competition means World Cup/qualifiers, European Championships/qualifiers, Copa America, Concacaf Gold Cup etc. Friendlies are not Official Competition.

A few examples off the top of my head: Jeff Cunningham played a friendly for Jamaica but is now a US international. Chris Armas 9 caps for Puerto Rico, 66 for the US.

Also, this is an email from the FAI when someone from bigsoccer asked about Lapira a few months ago:

2 issues
First, the email is from the FAI
Second, FIFA revamped their articles after the Troussier inspired Qatar Mercs for passports to Brazilian players, the ammendment came into play Jan 2004.
FIFA put a fullstop on national federation transfers as they use to be. Your examples would not happen now, as well as clarifying blood and residence standards
they clarified this

This possibility, however, is limited to those players who have not played at “A” international level

Why would they put in this? Surely if "A" level matches Friendlies did not count in the first place then it would say players can change if they have not been capped at a competition level.

The original article before it was changed was

“ 2. If a player has been included in a national or representative team of a country for which he is eligible to play pursuant to §1, he shall not be permitted to take part in an international match for another country. Accordingly, any player who is qualified to play for more than one national association (i.e. who has dual nationality) will be deemed to have committed himself to one association only when he plays his first international match in an official competition (at any level) for that association.

Was ammended in 2004
Containing five limitations preventing country-shopping:
1. the player must not yet have reached his 21st birthday when he makes the request to change his national team,
2. he must already hold the dual or multiple nationality when he makes his first appearance in a competitive international match, (Underage Caps included)
3. he must not have appeared for the A or senior level national team of his current association,
4. he may change his national team only once.
5. he may not change his national team during a preliminry competition in which he has taken part.

[livehead1]

Lapira wants to play for Ireland...close thread.

If a mod wants proof pm me!

[Paddy Garcia]

Lapira wants to play for Ireland...close thread.

If a mod wants proof pm me!

Tell us all ?

[carloz]

Lapira wants to play for Ireland...close thread.

If a mod wants proof pm me!

Why keep it to yourself, indulge us all in this bit of info you have

[livehead1]

Sorry, basically I got hold of him email address and asked him what the craic was. the response I got was:

ha yeah dont believe anything ya read. id much prefer to play for ireland. some journo came up to me a few days ago in the hotel in glasgow during the middle of a meal and bombarded me with questions . . . one of em being "did you know that you could still play for the united states?" all i said was something along the lines of, yeah i guess i could but i dont know the rules. im headin back stateside to finish up my education and last year of eligibility at notre dame then ill be back over to train with rangers and a few other teams to try and get a contract.

[tetsujin1979]

Thanks for that livehead1, always had faith!

[shakermaker1982]

Lapira has saw the light !!!!

[Torn-Ado]

At last! I can finally sleep at night knowing that this lad wants to play for us.

[Billsthoughts]

anymore updates on Lapira Watch???

[tetsujin1979]

He's gone back to college to finish his qualifications until the new year

[Stuttgart88]

i.e., nobody wanted him!

[Fr. Murphy]

I see the MLS draft was on Monday and Lapira was picked up by Toronto FC. Not sure how the draft works but he was the 35th overall pick. It also says that he's strongly considering the European club opportunities that having an Irish passport throws up. I heard from a very unreliable source that a couple of championship clubs are looking to take him on trial.

mlsnet.com