“on the territory of the relevant Association..”

As the Belfast Telegraph reports the 58th FIFA Congress meeting in Sydney has adopted a new Article 16 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes [pdf file] – see previous dispute over Article 15 noted here. From the Congress Agenda [pdf file]

16 Nationality entitling players to represent more than one Association
1 A player who, under the terms of art. 15, is eligible to represent more than one Association on account of his nationality, may play in an international match for one of these Associations only if, in addition to having the relevant nationality, he fulfils at least one of the following conditions:
(a) he was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
(b) his biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
(c) his grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
(d) he has lived on the territory of the relevant Association for at least two years without interruption.
2 Regardless of par. 1 above, Associations sharing a common nationality may make an agreement under which item (d) of par. 1 of this article is deleted completely or amended to specify a longer time limit. Such agreements shall be lodged with and approved by the Executive Committee.

Adds The new Article 18 would also seem to be relevant – see below the fold. Update There appears to be some disagreement over what this actually means.. still.The new Article 18 is also worth noting

18 Change of Association

1 If a Player has more than one nationality, or if a Player acquires a new nationality, or if a Player is eligible to play for several representative teams due to nationality, he may, up to his 21st birthday, and only once, request to change the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches to the Association of another country of which he holds nationality, subject to the following conditions:

(a) He has not played a match (either in full or in part) in an official competition at “A” international level for his current Association, and at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition for his current Association, he already had the nationality of the representative team for which he wishes to play.

(b) He is not permitted to play for his new Association in any competition in which he has already played for his previous Association.

2 If a Player who has been fielded by his Association in an international match in accordance with art. 15 par. 2 permanently loses the nationality of that country without his consent or against his will due to a decision by a government authority, he may request permission to play for another Association whose nationality he already has or has acquired.

3 Any Player who has the right to change Associations in accordance with par. 1 and 2 above shall submit a written, substantiated request to the FIFA general secretariat. The Players’ Status Committee shall decide on the request. The procedure will be in accordance with the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber. Once the player has filed his request, he is not eligible to play for any representative team until his request has been processed.


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