The protracted dispute over the elibigility of northerners to represent the Republic of Ireland should finally be resolved today, with the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issuing its ruling later today. This comes after the Irish Football Association took a case against west Belfast youth, Daniel Kearns, objecting to the rules which deemed him eligible to represent the Republic.
This one’s been covered on Slugger for years and quite a few Sluggerites have become experts on the FIFA Statutes thanks to Site veterans like ‘George’ and others. I’ve made my own thoughts pretty clear in the Belfast Telegraph in recent times- here and here, as has Owen Polley and others.
Looks like we’ll finally be getting some closure on this one at last….
Update: CAS has ruled in favour of the player, FIFA and the FAI. Here’s the FAI statement and the IFA statement.