Thread: Hard luck hahaha

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Sports' highest court upheld on Friday a FIFA ruling allowing players born in Northern Ireland to play international soccer for the Republic of Ireland.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal by the Northern Ireland federation, which claimed Ireland "poached" teenage forward Daniel Kearns. He was born in Belfast and played international youth matches for Northern Ireland.

CAS upheld FIFA's decision that Kearns had dual nationality and could choose which team to represent. FIFA's rules allow players with dual eligibility to switch sides before they play a competitive senior international match.

The Football Association of Ireland, representing the south, welcomed the "complete and final clarity" on the dispute.

"The ruling upholds the right of individual choice on this matter for players born north of the border," FAI chief executive John Delaney said in a statement, praising the "determination of Daniel Kearns and his family to uphold his right as an Irish citizen to play for his country."

Northern Ireland's federation was disappointed by the decision.

"We will continue to develop our very successful . . . community programs in the areas of grassroots, domestic and international football to ensure that anyone available to play for Northern Ireland will want to do so," Irish Football Association president Raymond Kennedy said.

The IFA has struggled to retain young players, with Kearns following Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson in opting for the south even though he, his parents and grandparents were born north of the border.

Northern Ireland is ranked 59th by FIFA and has not qualified for the World Cup since 1986.

The 36th-ranked Republic of Ireland has played at three of the past six World Cups, and traditionally has been more popular with Catholic residents in the north.

CAS said it would give its full reasons for the decision next week.

www.espn.com/football


Hahaha norn Ireland actually though they would win this! Deadon anyone in there right mind would chose the ROI over nor iron for the simple fact the majority of their fans are biogoted loyalist bum bandits, still can't get my head around McCourt and McGinn picking them, I think I'd burst into flames if I had to stand there and hear GSTQ belted out by your team mates

There are who would rather not play Int'l football then play for them, don't see what they were trying to acheive

Aha get it up you ya orange bastards

Imagine even taking it to court, how they ever hoped to win is beyond me, especially considering how relaxed the eligibility is in International football these days.

If you can play for Germany just because you have a German shepherd then someone with dual nationality was always going to be allowed to play for the Republic.

Release Date: 30/07/2010

THE Irish Football Association is disappointed at today’s decision made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

The Association will not be making any official comment on the decision at this time as the full reasons for the decision have not yet been announced.

This Irish FA has a very successful ‘Football For All’ programme where the main objective of the programme is to make sure that the sport of football is welcoming and inclusive to all members of our society in Northern Ireland and we will continue to drive this initiative forward. We pride ourselves with the fact that all Northern Ireland International football teams have always represented our community fairly. All our programmes – from grassroots football and our Centres of Excellence, to our girls and women's football and disability development programmes - each and every one has always been cross community, promoting ‘Football For All’.



The Association runs many successful grassroots programmes and the numbers participating in these programmes and representing Northern Ireland at all age groups / levels and from all communities, continues to rise.



The Association has worked tirelessly over the last number of years to create a family, friendly atmosphere at Northern Ireland internationals. These changes are the result of years of hard work by proactive, passionate and dedicated Northern Ireland football fans.



Raymond Kennedy, President of the Irish FA said: “I am disappointed by today’s decision but we will continue to develop our very successful and wide range of ‘Football for All’ and community programmes in the areas of grassroots, domestic and International football to ensure that anyone available to play for Northern Ireland will want to do so.”



Finally, the Irish Football Association wishes Daniel Kearns the best of luck in his future footballing career.


from the IFA website

love the way they have the 'football for all' campaign manybe they should start with educating their support that a nationalist on the pitch doesnt mean there all going to burst into flames! look at the abuse boruc took in windsor park during the international game (in fairness tho he made two god dam awful mistakes which gave the fuckers ammuntion) look at mcginn who has played a blinder when on the pitch for norn iron he still gets abuse for not singing GSTQ

Their claim is stupid and their team shouldn't even exist.

There never was a case to answer.

Not surprised by this at all.

If you’re born anywhere on the island of Ireland, North or South, by law you’re entitled to Irish citizenship.

End of.

I've been giving this some thought, and to be fair to the IFA, you only need to look at the NI team to see they are trying hard to accomodate young nationalist players, it's not really their fault that their fanbase is still stuck in the dark ages.

What I will say though is that any team who coach a player from a young age should be entitled to some form of compensation if the player opts to move when a little older.

When all is said and done though, if the whole island had one international team, this wouldn't even be an issue.

The football situation with Norn Iron has always confused me. Most of their fans are very anti-Irish yet their team play in a green strip, their league is called the Irish Premier League, run by the Irish Football Association...

I've also never understood why players like Lennon, McCourt, McGinn etc choose to play for them. I'm not about to brand them traitors or anything like that, I just don't know why they'd want to. Same goes for the fans, I feel a bit sorry for the nationalists who support NI (like Jamesy) because some of them get a bit pissed off when you say they're fans are scum, but they are. I'm born in London and I don't support England or Chelsea, because I think their fans are scum.