"Fifa are idiots and have no understanding of Irish nationalism"
FIFA, for the non-sporting amongst you stands for the "Fédération Internationale de Football Association."
A bit of context needed here, I suppose.
In the last few years, the Republic of Ireland football team have started selecting players born in Northern Ireland to play for them, on the the basis seemingly that they have Irish passports and they live on the island of Ireland.
The Irish Football Association (which is actually the governing footballing authority in Northern Ireland, try to keep up at the back) quite rightly have raised objections over players on their territory being poached and have attempted to get FIFA to deliver a definitive judgement on the matter.
Which has apparently been delivered. Or not. Or maybe now it has.
Whatever, having three hours spare, I’ve just had a "quick" read of FIFA’s regulations (annex 2) and I reckon the day of guest players turning out for the ROI is over, if the strict letter of the law is applied.
In which case, we can only hope that the Republic’s government then get involved.
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