CAS to rule on player cross-border eligibility

THE long-running dispute between the IFA and the FAI over the eligibility of players born in the Northern Ireland to represent the Republic of Ireland is expected to reach a conclusion in Lausanne, Switzerland on Monday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear a case regarding the entitlement of West Ham striker Daniel Kearns to play for the Republic.

Northern Ireland’s IFA has challenged FIFA’s decision to agree to a request from Kearns and the FAI to allow him to play for the Republic.

FIFA’s Players’ Status Committee decided in February that Kearns could play for the Republic and CAS has since ruled against the IFA when it sought to stop him playing for the Republic, pending the outcome of the case.

It will be recalled that it was also while awaiting the outcome of that ruling that Derry-born Everton defender Shane Duffy suffered a life-threatening injury at the Republic’s training camp in Malahide.

Belfast-born Kearns decided last year to declare for the Republic and made his debut against Poland in an U19 friendly in April, scoring the only goal of the game.

The highly-rated youngster had previously played five under-17 matches with Northern Ireland.

The general consensus is that CAS will back FIFA and the FAI, so brining to an end a stand-off which came to prominence when Manchester United’s Darron Gibson changed his allegiance from north to south in 2007.