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Perhaps the most curious thing about Republic of Ireland’s 5-0 drubbing of Northern Ireland in the Carling Nation’s Cup last week was the lack of analysis in how well, or poorly, each side played. Instead, all the talk centered on an issue which has caused controversy for some time, of player eligibility between the two countries.
Prior to announcing his squad for the match, Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington was told that young Preston North End defender Daniel Devine had opted to play for the Republic.
Worthington also stated that Newcastle United’s Shane Ferguson was intending to make the same move, following a failure to reply to repeated phone calls.
Under FIFA rules a player can only play for a country if he is born in that particular nation, his parents or grandparents come from that country or if he has lived for five years continuously on the territory of the association.
There is also the provision for a player with dual nationality to switch countries once before they play a senior international. For example, players born in France to African immigrants can play for France at youth level and then their parent’s country of birth at senior level.
But another FIFA ruling allows Northern Ireland born players to play for the Republic based on the 1998 Good Friday agreement which provided NI born people the opportunity to choose British or Irish nationality.
The practical implication of this is that the Republic of Ireland are allowed to select any NI born player who holds an Irish passport, regardless of whether a player has any relation to Ireland at all.
The Irish Football Association (IFA) took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Court upheld the status quo.
While I have no affiliation to either nation, on the face of it such a ruling seems fundamentally unfair. It means that one nation in the Republic of Ireland has the opportunity to choose a side with players from two different jurisdictions.
Devine is not the first player to take advantage of the loophole and play for the Republic.
In recent times Manchester United’s Darron Gibson, Stoke City defender Marc Wilson and Everton youngster Shane Duffy are among several players who have switched allegiances after playing for Northern Ireland at youth level. Admittedly, Duffy did have an Irish grandparent, so he had every right to go across, but the others had no affiliation with the Republic of Ireland.
One of the major bugbears that frustrates the IFA and manager Worthington is they have spent many years developing and nurturing these players as they progress through the ranks, only to see the players leave without playing senior internationals for the country.
If Gibson and Wilson stayed with Northern Ireland they would have been first choice players in their lineup. The question needs to be asked whether these players opted to switch across simply because they thought the Republic was a stronger footballing nation with greater future prospects, instead of playing for a team that may struggle.
In the match against the Republic of Ireland, 15 players were unavailable. These included English Premier League stars Chris Brunt, Jonny Evans and Aaron Hughes.
With a small pool of talent to begin with, having such quality players unavailable simply left a gaping hole in the ranks. If every country had ten of their better players unavailable they would struggle to compete, unless you were a world-class team like Brazil, Germany or Netherlands.
It would be easy to blame the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) for taking advantage of the situation and accuse them of poaching like many have suggested. But they are simply taking advantage of the current rules. If the situation were reversed, there’s no doubt that Northern Ireland would do the same.
The problem therein lies with FIFA, who need to put a stop to this player drain. By allowing the Republic to pilfer Northern Ireland’s young playing stocks it could spell absolute disaster, potentially costing them a generation of players.
FIFA needs to close this loophole and instruct the FAI to stop picking Northern Ireland born players who have no connection to the Republic so that Northern Ireland can compete on an even playing field.
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