No hard feelings for Ersan Gülüm

Another one thats slipped out of the grasp... I've never seen Gulum play but if he's good enough he would have been picked up earlier... Otherwise it's the FFA and the scouts at Grassroots that are at fault for not recognising the talent. I dare say the latter is still an area we need to work on in order to stop kids slipping through the system. Fair play to him though, hope he does well.

I used to be all judgemental about players choosing other countries over Australia (I'm also from an ethnic minority) Really, I realised that this is really a careers decision. Players want to advance their career and it's a good feather in your CV to be an international footballer as it does raised your value as a player and good performance there can be a shop window (especially if Turkey qualifies to Euro 2012 and performs well there). That's one thing Euriope has over Asia is that they get the opportunity to play in Euro which is 2nd in prestige to only the world Cup. From a purely career perspective, the likes of Simunic and Gulum choosing to represent Croatia and Turkey makes a lot of sense. They are just making the most of a short career which can be quite unforgiving. The fact is in the professional world, players are just going to make the most of the opportunities and not going to let sentiments get in the way. That's why we have the likes of Tim Cahill desperate to represent Ireland when they qualified to 2002 World Cup (FIFA barred him due to him representing Samoa youth side. When FIFA changed the laws, he then chose to play for Australia), Ognenovski getting selected to play for Macedonia (but he didn't start), Hutchinson playing for Malta, Rhys williams playing for Wales youth side, Bouzanis playing for Greece youth side etc. They may all feel Australian at heart but when push comes to shove, this is a professional career and they have to enhance their career prospect by choosing the nation most practical to them. That's why instead of blaming players for not representing their country of birth, I would actually prefer if FIFA just changed the eligibility laws and copy Cricket by restricting players from representing the country of their parents. In Cricket, you can only play for the country of birth or a country you lived for five years. I think that's the type of thing football should copy (although Gulum would still be eligible to play for Turkey even with the proposed change in laws). I do think it's a bit harsh to call Gulum a traitor considering he is actually living in Turkey and is a migrant of that country. However I do agree with the sentiments that playing for a country of your parents heritage without ever actually living in that country seems a slap in a face and disrespectful to Australian society. Australia is a multicultural society that allows migrants to express their cultural background without discrimination and without forcing the dominant culture on the minority. By representing Australia, you are representing the multicultural nature of our society. I feel that representing the country of your parents birth without actually migrating to that country takes advantage of the multicultural policies and a slap in the face of not just Australia as a whole but to your own ethnic community as well.

I write this as a Aussie with Turkish ethnicity: A solid player appears who can make a real contribution arrives and he betrays not only the socceroos but the Australian Turkish commuinty. As far as Im concerened his an idiot, he shouldn't wear the socceroos jersey cos he just doesnt get it. I say Ersun missed out, his too dim to know any better.

its hard though to make that call. when you do have an ethnic background and you grew up alot with that culture its hard to choose despite the fact that he is equally as australian. it is disappointing no doubt, but i dont hold grudges. he was overlooked and made a decision. pity for us, we need more stock in his position, plus an aussie at besiktas is pretty damn good

I'm not too sure about they play at higher levels. Playing in second division in Turkey and England doesn't make you an automatic pick for the Socceroos. We all seen how Carle was shafted despite playing in the Super Liga for Turkey and second division in England. Gulum played regularly in the 2nd division in Turkey but he only played about 5 games for Besiktas in the top division. I would have stilled lock him in but Osieck decision to not pick him could be defendable. I only support Gulum playing for Turkey is because he actually lives in Turkey and contribute to Turkish society in a practical way. If he was still living in Australia playing in the A-league and only visiting Turkey for holidays then I would have been far less open about his choice. I think international football, you play for your country not for your ethnicity. If you never lived in that country and that country never was responsible for your welfare and you never contributed to that country in a direct way then I don't think you can ever really claim to be from that country.

guy did the right thing. firstly verbeek aka the muppet made no effort to contact him. secondly we always stuff players like this around aka williams, stambolziev etc etc they wait for their socceroo call but dont getit because they play at a higher level. thirdly, the kid is turkish, hes from meadow heights which is basicly a mini istanbul in melbourne. its his heritage as well and he has every right to play for them. his head might say australia, but lets be honest, his heart says turkey

If he gets called up to Turkey then good luck to him. What I hope, for his sake, is that Turkey isn't undertaking what some here are advocating, which is to cap an individual in order to deny them the ability to play for someone else rather than capping them as they are a useful asset. If Turkey just play him for one game and then dump him in order to deny him to the Socceroos then it will indeed be a tradgedy, just as it would be if we did exactly the same thing.

I've seen Gulum play - he's not that great - the big O would eat him for breakfast. Obviously Holger and Aurellio Vidmar are of the same opinion. Good luck to him. The bottom line is with such an international game and the people moving between countries and grandparents all over the world, you are free to play for whichever country you are eligible to play for. But I'll bet he would have rather played for the Socceroos - and that is the danger of playing a bluff like that - "pick me or I'll play for another country".

Sorry, but we did this exact thing with Harry Kewell. He was given his socceroos debut at a very young age, possibly too young, but it locked him into the socceroos. Given that he had English parents, was living in England playing for Leeds and there was a dire shortage of quality left sided players in England at the time, it was a smart move. I don't see a problem with the practice, but only if there is genuine intention for the player to be a part of the system. If Gulum is good enough to be in the first 11 for the Socceroos, then pull out all the stops. If he's not however, then playing for Turkey is a better move.

From what I understand, the provision for changing nationalities works on an appeal system, and is generally only implemented where a player has played at an under-age level. This is something that is realatively new, think back to Craig Johnson who played for Englands u21 side once, and was never able to play for the socceroos as a result. The rules were changed as a result of a Freddie Kanoute appeal, he had only played very small number of games for the French u21 side, he wished to change to Mali, the country of his birth. Soon after this ruling, Tim Cahill used the ruling as an avenue to change his nationality from Samoan to Australian (hence the late age of his socceroos debut). Dean Bouzanis (Greece), Shane Lowry (Rep. of Ireland) and Rhys Williams (Wales) have all played u21 for European nations, it is seen as a positive in a young players development, however clubs are reluctant to release players to fly back and forth to australia. In the Ognenovski case, he was called up to play for Macedonia, but never acutally played, hence his avaliablity for the socceroos. However, had he have played any part, he would be eneligable. It will be the same for Gulum. Given that it would have had to be appealed, the CAS would take into consideration the fact that a player can no longer be "trapped" by national associations as a young player, and that you have a choice as to who you play for at "full" international level, it would be hard to argue that Gulum was "tricked" into playing Turkey, especially when you factor in his comments in the press.

Agree...

he made the correct decision, his parents migrated back to Turkey, and this is where the boys heart is FFA have no case to answer, you have to earn a socceroos jersey, they dont come cheap after just 4 appearances for a club. you can say "but ohwell we developed him and this and that" ohwell too bad, kewell and cahill learn't their trade in England, do we owe them anything? no! win some lose some, in australia case, it wins more than it loses. Good luck Ersan

And how much do the AIS football players pay when they attend full time at the institute to lean their career profession out of their own pocket..?

Sorry that is wrong---my knowledge is that Pim went public and I read Pim's comments in the press that he had better players then Sasa to choose from. That was documented in the press.

Uni and Tafe students pay for their career education I believe through Hecs debt to be paid by the student in the end. My son had done so with his part time Uni studies with his Arts Degree. So I feel Footballers should not be exempt and do the same if they make the big time, and especially if they want to take that education to benefit another national team is a contradiction of what the AIS was meant to be for.

You are dead wrong---he wanted to play for Australia but he was rejected by Pim. Sasa said in the press about his desire to represent Australia. But Pim said he did not fit in his plans that were also recorded in the press, that is fact, so then Sasa put out feelers for Macedonia representation when it came clear he had no chance of going to the WC with Australia.