FIFA eligibility- new and re-worded

[Rossfan]

They still don't get it do they?

[screenexile]

 

[Minder]

Read an interesting piece on this the other day in Sunday Times, Darren Gibson said in 2007 or 2008 he committed to playing for the Republic because "they were the better team".

[Main Street]

Read an interesting piece on this the other day in Sunday Times, Darren Gibson said in 2007 or 2008 he committed to playing for the Republic because "they were the better team".

Yeah Minder sure 


There are 3 obvious leading probable causes for this so called recollection of an "interesting piece".

a. You have a problem with comprehension.
b. You have a faulty memory.
c.  It was an article by Paul Rowan

I can't decide Minder, if that is better or worse than what you usually pass off as proof - as in 'I met a guy who knows a guy and he told me'.

Here is an actual verified quote from Darron Gibson

"It was unbelievable, you know, making the debut for your country. Everyone from Derry wants to play for Ireland. I grew up supporting Ireland, so it was a natural choice for me."

[Minder]

Read an interesting piece on this the other day in Sunday Times, Darren Gibson said in 2007 or 2008 he committed to playing for the Republic because "they were the better team".

Yeah Minder sure 


There are 3 obvious leading probable causes for this so called recollection of an "interesting piece".

a. You have a problem with comprehension.
b. You have a faulty memory.
c.  It was an article by Paul Rowan

I can't decide Minder, if that is better or worse than what you usually pass off as proof - as in 'I met a guy who knows a guy and he told me'.

Here is an actual verified quote from Darron Gibson

"It was unbelievable, you know, making the debut for your country. Everyone from Derry wants to play for Ireland. I grew up supporting Ireland, so it was a natural choice for me."

I must see if i can dig that out for you, i have a feeling it will ruin your night though but it is strange that the journalist would blatantly make it up. I honestly couldn't give a flying who plays for the Republic or Northern Ireland but it seemed to fly in the face of some of the crap you hear on here. If anyone still has the sport section from Sunday they will be able to confirm.

[Main Street]

I must see if i can dig that out for you, i have a feeling it will ruin your night though but it is strange that the journalist would blatantly make it up. I honestly couldn't give a flying who plays for the Republic or Northern Ireland but it seemed to fly in the face of some of the crap you hear on here. If anyone still has the sport section from Sunday they will be able to confirm.

The only thing flying now in this thread is your own crap

Is this the article, from the other day, in the Sunday Times?

Goal poachers

Northern Irish football chiefs are crying foul as young stars switch allegiance to the republic. Are the players simply seeking a bigger stage – or is there a deeper issue

Paul Rowan Published: 4 February 2012

O'Kane represented Northern Ireland at every age level, but has turned his back on the side
The name Eunan O'Kane will strike a chord with only the most dedicated Irish football fan. His story, though, is becoming increasingly familiar. He is one of the growing legion of footballers to switch allegiance from Northern Ireland to play for the Republic of Ireland.

Like many of the other northerners to turn their back on the country where they played under-age football, O'Kane, from Feeny in Derry, is a Catholic. His decision, as well as those of other Catholics of his generation, is not only threatening to sour relations between the island's two football associations and rival fans, it is also likely to turn the Northern Ireland team into a Catholic-free outfit.

Currently plying his trade at Torquay United, following a spell with Everton, O'Kane represented Northern Ireland at every age level, up to under-21 level, but turned his back on the team last July and declared for the republic.

"I was given the option that if I was interested in playing for the republic then there were opportunities to do that," he said. "People got in touch with me who had been speaking to Noel King, the [Republic of Ireland] under-21 manager, and he had asked questions about me and they then relayed that back to me.

"They made it clear he was interested in speaking to me if I was interested in speaking to him, and it has gone from there. We spoke on the phone and we then met up."

So who were these intermediaries?

"I don't want to say that," says O'Kane. "I don't want to get people into trouble. They don't want anything to do with it and if I was them I wouldn't want anything to do with it either."

Shadowy intermediaries, secret meetings, agents, political posturing and a paper trail leading to Zurich may sound like a reworking of t**ker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. These are the elements, however, that make up the increasingly bitter fight between the two football associations as they wrangle over the best young footballing talent on the island.

The Irish Football Association (IFA) in Belfast is crying foul over the increasingly predatory tendencies of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) towards some of the best players born in the north. At the same time, it is being forced to ask itself awkward questions about why a growing number of Catholics no longer want to play for Northern Ireland.

"We are a small nation and the republic has twice as many people and twice as many resources financially," said Gerry Armstrong, a former Northern Ireland player who has been hired by the IFA to stop the drain of talent to its more glamorous and successful neighbour. "They are tapping up our players and it is a kick in the teeth for us."

A quick look at the Premier League in England makes clear the scale of Armstrong's task. An Everton side that faced Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park last month featured two players born in the north who have "defected" to the south; Darron Gibson and Shane Duffy. Both would be shoo-ins for Northern Ireland who, as it stands, can claim only four Premier League players of their own.

Gibson's declaration for the republic in 2006 signalled the start of the tug-of-war between the two associations, one which eventually ended up in the international sports courts and is now being fought with renewed vigour in Ireland.

[Minder]

Read an interesting piece on this the other day in Sunday Times, Darren Gibson said in 2007 or 2008 he committed to playing for the Republic because "they were the better team".

Yeah Minder sure 


There are 3 obvious leading probable causes for this so called recollection of an "interesting piece".

a. You have a problem with comprehension.
b. You have a faulty memory.
c.  It was an article by Paul Rowan

I can't decide Minder, if that is better or worse than what you usually pass off as proof - as in 'I met a guy who knows a guy and he told me'.

Here is an actual verified quote from Darron Gibson

"It was unbelievable, you know, making the debut for your country. Everyone from Derry wants to play for Ireland. I grew up supporting Ireland, so it was a natural choice for me."

Main News Section

Page 18 column 2

Indeed it was by Paul Rowan, which no doubt makes the quote worthless in your eyes  , wrong narrative and all that.

Gibson is hardly a breast beating pioneer. When he was interviewed by the Sunday Times in Belgium in 2007, during a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, he said  that he made the switch "because they [the Republic of Ireland] are the better team"

[Tony Baloney]

Main Street conveniently stopped posting the article before the direct quote posted by Minder. How childish can a grown man be in his defence of a mercenary soccer player?! 

If these boys spent every waking hour as a boy dreaming about playing for the Republic why then play for Windsor Park's finest. He made the right choice eventually.

[Minder]

Naught naughty Main Street

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Olé Olé Olé Olé! Cant wait for the euros now up here in Derry. Hopefully Mc Clean will make the squad. Really tored of listenng to Armstrong and his band of moaners now. Dry your eyes!

[Benny Sweeney]

You couldn't script this drama, it just encapsulates Unionist mind set to a tee.

FIFA came out with a rewording of the Eligibility rule Article 15, and added in 3 new articles  nr 16 17 and an 18.

FIFA stated that there would be no change to the legality and that they were just bringing different bits of eligibility legislation together together.

Essentially  there is no change,

Irish footballers born in the North fall under Article 15

New Article 16 is about the conditions for  one nationality who can play for different countries, like the UK British passport holders.

Article 15 has been reworded as

Any person holding a
permanent nationality
that is not dependent
on residence in a certain
country is eligible to play
for the representative teams
of the Association of that
country.

You would think that is clear, that it could not be clearer that that is written as if they were thinking of Irish citizenship.
That the state of Ireland grants unconditional permanent citizenship to (almost) all people born in Ireland

BUT the the Belfast Telegraph
screams out   "Northern footballers to face tougher rules if they want to play for the Republic"

The IFA are in a cloud cuckoo land and think that FIFA have all of a sudden out of the blue ruled in their favour.

The BBC are kissing the arses of the IFA and think that FIFA have ruled in the IFA favour

The IFA and 99.99% of the OWC  are creaming themselves.


The FAI know that there has been no change.

I dont understand what this is about

[Main Street]

Main Street conveniently stopped posting the article before the direct quote posted by Minder. How childish can a grown man be in his defence of a mercenary soccer player?! 

What on earth are you mumbling about?

Main News Section

Page 18 column 2

Indeed it was by Paul Rowan, which no doubt makes the quote worthless in your eyes  , wrong narrative and all that.

Gibson is hardly a breast beating pioneer. When he was interviewed by the Sunday Times in Belgium in 2007, during a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, he said  that he made the switch "because they [the Republic of Ireland] are the better team"

Ah well, it's an article by Paul Rowan       how did I guess?
You actually claim to be countering the cr'ap flying around by quoting a Paul Rowan article?
That's priceless.

[Minder]

Main Street conveniently stopped posting the article before the direct quote posted by Minder. How childish can a grown man be in his defence of a mercenary soccer player?! 

What on earth are you mumbling about?

Main News Section

Page 18 column 2

Indeed it was by Paul Rowan, which no doubt makes the quote worthless in your eyes  , wrong narrative and all that.

Gibson is hardly a breast beating pioneer. When he was interviewed by the Sunday Times in Belgium in 2007, during a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, he said  that he made the switch "because they [the Republic of Ireland] are the better team"

Ah well, it's an article by Paul Rowan       how did I guess?
You actually claim to be countering the cr'ap flying around by quoting a Paul Rowan article?
That's priceless.

So you admit you deliberately left out the quote I posted from that article ? Good man.

[trileacman]

You're beaten there Main Street, like the lads at the IFA you should pipe down and take it.

[Tony Baloney]

Main Street conveniently stopped posting the article before the direct quote posted by Minder. How childish can a grown man be in his defence of a mercenary soccer player?! 

What on earth are you mumbling about?

Main News Section

Page 18 column 2

Indeed it was by Paul Rowan, which no doubt makes the quote worthless in your eyes  , wrong narrative and all that.

Gibson is hardly a breast beating pioneer. When he was interviewed by the Sunday Times in Belgium in 2007, during a loan spell at Royal Antwerp, he said  that he made the switch "because they [the Republic of Ireland] are the better team"

Ah well, it's an article by Paul Rowan       how did I guess?
You actually claim to be countering the cr'ap flying around by quoting a Paul Rowan article?
That's priceless.

You copied and pasted the article and deliberately omitted the offending quote by Gibson. I'd say that makes Rowan a cut above you.

Or else as I suspect, you have copied and pasted from foot.ie in which they deliberately omitted the direct quote from Gibson.