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IFA Victory in Republic Poaching Row
It looks like FIFA have ruled in the favour of the IFA [also here] in the ongoing poaching row, establishing a rare victory for common sense, following a complaint from the Irish FA.
The FAI, organisers of football in the Republic of Ireland, have been trying to abuse the Good Friday Agreement to justify a policy of poaching players born in Northern Ireland, who have no parental/grand-parental connections to the Republic, for the Republic's national squad.
FIFA have just said they will not act retrospectively, which is being taken as an indication that the FAI will be allowed to keep Darron Gibson, one of the players at the centre of the row, but will be prevented from picking Northern Ireland-born players in future.
Contrary to what the FAI and compulsive meddler Dermot f**king Ahern would have you believe, this is not contrary to the Good Friday Agreement. In fact it's completely in line with it. Under the agreement a person in Northern Ireland may "identify themselves and be accepted as" British, Irish or both. With the application of this principle in the Republic's nationality law extending Irish passports to those born in Northern Ireland who want one, the real effect of the Good Friday Agreement seems to be that, in the same way as a British passport is not in itself enough to prove eligibility of a player for any single British national side, an Irish passport alone will no longer be evidence of eligibility for either Irish side.