I thought Martin fronted that presser well. He attempted to answer all questions the best he could. He freely admits that they are not entirely sure if they are on solid ground and refers the eligibility to Article 6, not 7. I think he said the right things and was honest and up front. I think there is also a little bit of naivety in taking the words of OFC at face value when continuously asking which rules apply cause OFC are always going to cut their cloth to suit. Rookie mistake.
When I read article 6 (as put above), I think he is eligible too. Do I believe NZF stuffed up? No because I read the same thing and come to the same conclusion - he is eligible. When I read article 5 which is referenced in article 6, there is a key point around "holding a permanent nationality that is not dependent on residence". Does that mean he needed to be a resident to get nationality or does it mean his on going nationality is not dependent on him being a resident. That in itself can be taken 1 way to make him not eligible and another to make him eligible.
Either way, I can appreciate that it is grey but it needs NZF to test this and others.
I think that this blog by a Swiss legal professor on a leading sports law website clears up many of the issues you raise - NZ Football should have asked for a legal opinion from a leading overseas sports lawyer. NZ lawyers don't have the competency to deal with complex football matters, used as they are to only dealing with more minor sports like rugby and netball.
Written with last years Brazil World Cup in mind but applies to the Deklan Wynne situation too.
Paras 1-4 are introductory.
Paras 5 on get to the crux of the matter:
"The 32 national associations engaged in the final competition are bound by two sets of rules, namely the Regulations of the 2014 World Cup – Brazil and the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes 2013[4]. Their common purpose is to ensure that players have a genuine, close and credible link with the national association which selects them on its roster[5]. This is primarily ensured by the permanent holding of the nationality of the country of the national association in question[6]. It means that nationality must not be pegged to the residence of the player in a certain country[7]. Naturally, sanctions may apply in the case of a breach of these stipulations[8].
Article 7 of the 2013 FIFA Regulations:
"It institutes a de facto prohibition to play at international level before the age of 23 years old when naturalized."
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In other words, it's Article 7 that applies to the Wynne situation, not Article 6
Wynne would only be eligible if he had applied to FIFA under Article 8, paragraph 1, of the FIFA Regulations which reads as follows: “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..."