Burley denied Novo option

Scotland manager George Burley has been told by the Scottish Football Association he has no option but to accept Nacho Novo will not represent the national team.

The Rangers striker sparked a furious debate when he revealed recently he would consider switching allegiance from Spain to Scotland after spending seven years in the country.

The SFA initially seemed in favour of the idea, advising the 29-year-old to obtain a British passport to ensure he would be eligible for selection by Burley.

But the governing body have now performed a U-turn thanks to a ’gentleman’s agreement’ with the other Home Nations, which states players should only qualify through their blood line.

And that means Burley has to write off any thoughts of capping Novo regardless of his own take on the situation.

“The situation is he has to accept it because that’s in place,” SFA chief executive Gordon Smith told Sky Sports News.

“I don’t think he knew about it. It was something that I wasn’t aware of actually when I came into this job and in recent days I’ve had to look at this myself.

“But it is something that he has to accept because we have a gentleman’s agreement with the other associations.

“We do need to adhere to it until some time as we sit down and we change it and at the moment there are no plans to do that.”

Players will only be eligible to play for Scotland if they have a Scottish parent or grandparent.

Smith added: “We have had discussions with the other associations in the past couple of days and I’ve found out that everyone is adhering to our agreement and that, subsequently, we’re all going down the line that will be blood line at the moment.”

Smith claimed the agreement would also prevent England boss Fabio Capello calling up the likes of Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who had expressed an interest in switching allegiance from Spain.

Smith said: “As far as we’re concerned at the moment he wouldn’t be entitled to do that, England are part of this agreement.”

The news came in the wake of Novo reiterating his desire to play for Scotland by revealing he is even learning the national anthem.

“I have been in Scotland for many years now,” he told the Daily Record. “My family is Scottish as well.

“It would be an honour for me to pull on a Scotland jersey. My girlfriend has already been teaching me the words to Flower of Scotland.”