China/Japan Squad Discussion

Absolutely incorrect if ricki selects him and he makes it on the field, he is not eligible for anyone else. This is a full international not a youth match

Wow. you really have no clue do you.

So you are agreeing with steptoes comment 2nd best?

Can anyone give me a link to the definition of an "A" international as per the fifa statues??

I'm willing to proved wrong but I'm pretty sure these games are so called "A" internationals.

(ps I've trolled a few threads and cant find the big discussion that was had)

They are full internationals

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, 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.

Official competition: a competition for representative teams organised by FIFA or any Confederation.
An international �A� match is a match arranged between two Members o FIFA and for which both Members field their first representative team.
2ndBest2011-03-03 23:20:12

Game. Set. Match.

Funny where research can get you.

have you found anything that states that "A" level friendlies arent official competition? or something to that effect?

No. A internationals are non-age groups games.  But the key is official competition. Wc games, Confed games and WC qualifies would count as official competitions.  If he doesn't play in one of those, then he could switch countries.

But 2B, the lawyer has spoken, so obviously you're wrong, no matter what you're silly 'rules' say.

Arf.

2 years ago we played Thailand. 1 game was an A level friendly the other was not. So not all non age group level games are A level games. (pretty sure the chile game is in that boat too?)

the official competition part im still looking at...

OK. An 'A' international is a match played between two representative teams of two different Associations utlising their best available players.

'A' international friendlies are matches organised between the two Associations that serve no wider purpose and are not a part of any official competition. Official competitions are competitions organised by FIFA or continetal Confederations (UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, AFC, CAF and OFC) for which Associations are eligible to register for.

As for the Thailand example, the first game was the 'A' international friendly (i.e. it was a game between the best available teams from the respective Associations), and the second game was against a Thai U23 side, and therefore not an 'A' friendly.el grapadura2011-03-03 23:15:49

Not sure how clearer I can be.  As long as he doesn't play in a senior men's WC, Confeds cup or WC qualification game, then he can change countries.

Where did you find that?

(ps just trying to satify my own curiosity not start and argument)

My original post with the quote from Fifa rules

if this was the case then why dont we see lots of players who have only played friendlies switching teams just like league players? (this may happens, just cant find any.)

1) The rule is pretty new.  It use to have an age limit.
2) One of the sub rules talks about having duo nationality before you play for original country. So that rules out players who play club footy in one country for years. Say if Daniel had played for Brazil, then he would not be able to play for NZ because he didn't have duo nationality when he first 'played' for Brazil.
3) Just about every other confederation have a confed champs (african cup of nations, UEFA champs etc) in between WC so players have many more opportunity to play during a competition.
4) Some players may not want to switch.
2ndBest2011-03-03 23:34:51

In modern times, it does happen, but rarely - I can remember a couple of lads with UK/Caribbean connections who did this maybe 10-15 years ago.

The reality is that the test for switching is quite high (re-read 2B's post on FIFA rule) - you need to have citizenship of two different countries in addition to the other criteria. The reality is that League is quite loose with their international rules, FIFA is a lot stricter.

you guys might be right be surely there must be a precedent somewhere if it is possible. 

Well, if you want to google, feel free.

The best example I can think fo right now is Asmir Begovic - did not actually play for Canada 'A' team, but was on the bench for them in some 'A' friendlies. If they'd counted surely they'd have given him an appeareance, if only for a few minutes.

And then when he made the switch to Bosnia, they immediately brought him on for the last 2 minutes of a World Cup qualifying game - why bother with that if a friendly could do.

2B gave you the best reason why examples of this are rare - most national teams play more official competition games in any given year than they do friendlies - NZ is quite different in this respect to most of the rest of the footballing world.

Incorrect.  Had he got on the park for Canada in those 'A' games, he would now only be available for Canadian selection.  Obviously the manager at the time did not feel that he was good enough to play for Canada (ala Clapham until late last year).

No, he wouldn't.

But I guess FIFA regulations mean nothing to people who just know they know better.

el grapadura:  If 'A's dont count, think of all of the players who could easily change nations here in the UK and across Europe (people of African/Caribbean decent for instance). 

The FIFA wording is murky.  Can you name any recent examples who have played a senior 'A' international for one country then changed to another?  I certainly cant although I know many players who have played U23 or under for one country then represented another.

Will Durante ever be eligible for NZ?

Like I said, it's not that easy - if you're good enough to play international football, you get a chance in an official game very quickly, there's not many countries that have an 18-24 months gap between official games like NZ.

Even so, David Johnson is one guy who I think played for Jamaica and Wales, this was around 1999/2000. There was also an Italian guy who played a friendly each for Italy and Germany relatively recently, but can't for the life of me remember his name now.

The FIFA regulations are quite clear - it has to be an official game. Otherwise the regulations would just state an 'A' international, and they certainly don't do that.

Have a think about Begovic again - do you really think that Begovic, one of the hottest young keepers around, was not good enough to play 1 minute in a Canadian A friendly if that's all that would tie him to Canada? Especially considering that the Canadians were well aware that Bosnians were sniffing around and talking to Begovic over making the switch (Begovic had represented Canada at U20 level)?el grapadura2011-03-04 13:29:16

are these games going to be on sky?

David Johnson did not play for wales and jamacia but England B (hence not a full international). That therefore is not a precedant.

2nd best you may however have excelled yourself here. Can you provide the sauce where you gathered those regulations?

i am so confused. i read the fifa regs that 2md best posted and i read that as confirming rojas would be committed to nz if he gets on the park bc they are A internationals.

the regs he has quoted are the FIFA statutes, downloadable from fifa.com. Its all about the interpretation of them.

So unless I find a precedent i wont be convinced that friendlies like these dont count.

These will count towards official caps, goals and all sorts of other official fifa statistics as well as ranking points which are very important in the whole scheme of things ie seedings for the world cup etc. so i dont see why fifa would allow a player to earn caps for 2 different countries.

When is the squad for these two friendlies to be announced? Must be very soon.

That's what it's all about, legal interpreation. The example that someone gave of someone playing for Italy and Germany - if true ( they didn't name the player I see), would have caused a bit of uproar at FIFA.

Until someone can provide one player as an example, I don't believe it, FIFA are not that dumbAucklandPhoenix2011-03-04 19:46:34

Just checked - Johnson was picked by Wales after playing for Jamaica, but did missed the game through injury and never played international football afterwards.

How people can question the clearly written regulation is beyond me - it states the player has to have played in an 'A' international, in an OFFICIAL COMPETITION. It doesn't say an 'A' international, or any 'A' international, it clearly states it has to be OFFICIAL COMPETITION.

How hard is that to comprehend? Not to mention the warped logic used to argue against a very clearly set out regulation.

No. Clue.el grapadura2011-03-04 20:22:19

Look, the examples you have served up simply do not back up what you say. An Italian/German who no one can name. A player who played for Bosnia and never played for Canada and a jamacian who played a "b" game for England.

An Italian playing for Germany lol

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/01/29/85/71/fifastatuten2010_e.pdf

Article 17

f**k me this thread is full of stoopid.  Not sure whether to laugh or cry.

The rule has only been like that for less than a year.  How many examples do you expect?
2ndBest2011-03-04 21:02:56

It took me a few minutes but I've finally got my head around it.

Rojas may only switch to Chile after these International "A" games if he is already a Chilean passport holder. If not he may not switch. Sorted.

So effectively you're both right and wrong.
timmymadden2011-03-04 21:02:36