New Zealand U-23s - Quali Whites

Why would you want that - we are better than all of the island nations at football at every age group.  If you think NZF is the problem in the OFC I suggest you do a it more digging.

Who's paying for all these sets of Lawyers to look into this debacle?

We're not THE problem, we're A problem......

You are. Through your subs.

But I like to think that spending money on lawyers is always an investment ;)

I was summising it in conjunction with the need for permanent citizenship in Article 5.1. It seems typical, that if a player is a citizen of a country before 18, FIFA allow them to turn out for the national team. Raheem Sterling is probably the most famous example, born in Jamaica, moved to England as a child with no ties to the country and was playing for them in 2009.

I don't think there's such a thing as exemption, it's not mentioned anywhere.

I think the Zelalem issue was misreported, there was never an exemption. What happened was he played for Germany youth teams in friendly games and his father became a US citizen which also granted him US citizenship as he was under 18. It was then at that point that he became eligible for USA as he wasn't tied down with Germany. Had he have played a competitive game for Germany, it would have been a different story.

Sterling is an exception under the Home Nations agreement which FIFA has approved.

Despite having lived in England since the age of five, Sterling was initially only eligible to represent Jamaica at international level. It was not until September 2009 that FIFA agreed to the proposals by the English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh Football Associations to update the "home nations agreement", allowing players who were educated in their nation for five years or more to become eligible for their national team.[52] Sterling first represented England at under-16 level in November 2009 in a match against Northern Ireland.[53] When speaking of the possibility of playing for Jamaica, Sterling said: "When it comes to that decision, that is when I will decide, but if Jamaica calls for me, why not?"[54]

That's not true at all. He wasn't eligible as soon as he received his US citizenship, he had to apply for the exemption.

http://www.espnfc.com.au/united-states/story/22680...

If my subs are paying then I demand a James Dean and Smithy legal team right now.

I'd pay extra just for the lolz.

We've seen a nice bump in forum traffic thanks to this thread.

I sent them a Tweet.  Expect a call Smithy and Normo.

From an article on the main page:

Martin said he could not name other players potentially affected or the number now under the spotlight. Decisions about eligibility for New Zealand were made by a "technical committee" who would check a player's passport and terms against criteria, he said.

I sure would like to know who is part of this technical committee...

Best off season distraction ever!

It's now an honourium 

According to Chopah (earlier this thread, post 1963) she resigned from NZF a couple of months ago.

WARNING: This may be too soon after Wynnegate to watch. 

He gets name checked pretty hard with footage - maybe a light bulb moment for someone in the Pacific?

I guess NZF have to soldier on like we are going to Rio.

Game 1. vs Fiji plus Roy of the Phoenix

Game 2. vs Aussie 23

Game 3. A tour of Brazil so the team hasn't really missed out and football mums are happy.

#Eligible Alignment.

http://www.3news.co.nz/sport/new-zealand-football-...

In this video, the camera focuses on men at the back of the room while mentioning the technical committee.

de Jong and another.

Anyone who knows FDJ will know the look on his face is the one when he is totally pissed off. 

Unfortunately $400 is peanuts in the legal world!

How much does 'getting into law' cost you Boxey?

Pleading the 5th on that one.

He mostly retired at the end of last season but is still our lawyer and manages some commercial arrangements and the Fever 'technical committee'

Regarding this 'we thought there was an issue with Wynne but decided 'fudge it' theme that's coming through, I thought that what Martin said was 'early advise from the lawyers was that if we applied and it was not given, we are stuffed'

That's not them saying 'we knew this'. That's the initial feedback from the lawyers that NZF have asked to look over their position  around this.

Do I have that right?

Yeah, pretty much. But guess the point here is - there was clearly awareness that there may be an issue around Wynn's eligibility at NZF (i.e. it's not an oversight, or them simply being unaware of this being an issue at all). The legal advice (wrongly, I think) said FIFA may not make him eligible and that could be it - and in light of that advice, they proceeded to play him anyway, without clarification from FIFA. And furthermore, they've now publically admitted to that situation.

You'd have thought in light of that legal advice, you'd want FIFA to clarify the situation, and  you wouldn't play Wynn in the meantime and endanger your whole campaign.

So now them saying - 'oh, yes, he's clearly eligible' sounds hollow, and their decision to play him in spite of uncertainty around eligibility, and without contacting FIFA in relation to it, is pretty unlikely to endear NZF and their position to FIFA if the latter end up having to make a definitive ruling on this.

I hope FDJ doesn't lose his job- he might end up doing more commentary

Who is Rob Pickstock then? What's his background?

News and Paddy mostly.

The problem, as I see it, is the wording in 5.1 is not clear enough and has lead NZF to falsely believe Article 6 is valid for Wynne's case.

Instead of saying 'permanent nationality' it would be better to say 'primary' or 'first' nationality. ie the nationality you are entitled to when you're born.

Altering this wording makes it so much clearer that Article 6 is only referring to those players whose original nationality could entitle them to play for more than one country (eg US passport for Guam), and that Wynne's case clearly falls into Article 7.

At least until 2ndBest is back from Nightshift work in the Amercas.

http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/pickstock-takes-international-team-manager-role/