New Zealand U-23s - Quali Whites

  IF it is a stitch up from OFC/Islands at us complaining about Blatter or the state of this 'tournament' then all hell will break loose from the associated with NZ Football and it's supporters. In fact I could see some very crude, bordering on racist comments coming out. I imagine there have been some already while typing the forum posts.

  IF it is a complete ballsup from NZF, then absolutely no time needs to be spent on the fact that FIFA allowed Wynne to play in the U20 World Cup and other Internationals. Absolutely heads (note plural) must roll! I hold no blame to Hudson here as, as others have posted, he has staff meant to sort this stuff out. He must be thinking what sort of fudgestorm have I walked into with regards to NZF?! I would be looking for a quick way out as this completely upsets his plans he has put in place. Thinking back to his 30 minute presentation to journalists, he emphasised the importance of the Olympic campaign.

  We will see what happens with any appeal. I won't hold my breath as then any positive news will be an unexpected bonus and I will lead the fury associated at OFC. Won't go the racist route, just question every other value under the sun though

It could all be a result of bad timing. As Chopah said (post 1963 on this thread): "All international transfers went through the goalnet administrator (can't remamber her name) but I do know she left NZF maybe a couple of months ago [i.e. before start of Under-20 World Cup]. I think that role would be the one that checks these kind of things."

So maybe her successor thought (incorrectly) Wynne's eligibility was already established? And nobody thought it needed checking.

So did we get to the bottom of the Kip Colvey and Storm Roux situation where two players that moved here (a lot earlier than Deklan Wynne) without Kiwi parents or grandparents are also in the team?

I guess my slant is more a question of ethics, presumably Vanuatu (cant wait for the next time our 2 teams meet at any level, should be feisty), already knew that NZ had a questionable player.  Given all the games are essentially back to back to back they must have know earlier than the 2 hour "window" they had to appeal.  So why did they not complain the first game he played? Then NZ would have been on the Fiji side of the draw? and would still have had a chance to progress.  As it is (regardless of any administrative mistake) I feel nothing but Shame for Vanuatu.  I used to have good memories and remember this:

Mar 23, 2015 - New Zealand will boost its aid contribution to Vanuatu to $3.5 million dollars to help the cyclone-ravaged nation recover. A further $1 million was announced today by Foreign Minister Murray McCully to top up New Zealand's aid contribution in the wake of Cyclone Pam. 

Changing next years travel destination as we speak.

Anyway, if we fielded an ineligible player that's our fault, regardless of the timing of when we got caught. Maybe someone tipped Vanuatu off after the game anyway? Would we seriously expect NZF to not appeal if we were beaten in a crucial match and then found out the opposition fielded a guy who wasn't eligible?

Or are you saying that because we gave them aid money they should let us win?

Presumably they can apply for that waver from Fifa for Roux and Colvey.

Pretty much nail on the head.

I don't understand why people are angry at Vanuatu and the OFC.  By the looks of things we are the ones that stuffed up.  To talk about cancelling aid from people who really need it is just petty.

I don't imagine there will be any heads rolling until FIFA (or whoever) has ruled on the decision.  Firing people beforehand is just an admission of guilt.

So the way out of that (prevented from playing until 23) is you can request FIFA for a nationality transfer - as that's what the Australian example shows.  But I still don't see where that situation is actually covered in the regs...it seems very unclear...because that part of the regs deals with the Winston Reid example where you have already played for another country

Exactly. If the boot was on the other foot no-one would be complaining.

I think you've got to also remember that some of these European mega-clubs have academy's running for young kids which are basically boarding schools.  If that rule wasn't in place, there would be nothing stopping the FA's of those European countries talking those youngster into representing say England as a 17 year old after they've been in the country 5 years.  Africa, for example, could possibly lose a lot of its talent that way.

As explained earlier section 7 is really geared to players that have played for another country so does not apply to Wynne. he and others come under an earlier section which states that they have to have an NZ passport and lived in the Country for two years!

This really is next level idiocy. Over 100,000 people were effected by that cyclone and dozens died. Anyone who suggests that we should prevent those people from rebuilding their homes because Vanuatu correctly pointed out that we'd played an ineligible player in a football game is a morally bankrupt moron. Never mind that this increasingly appears to be a cock-up of epic proportions from NZF. Honestly, this comment is disgraceful.

He's a NZer, wouldn't take up an import slot.

That is my argument too

even though article 7 states:

7 Acquisition of a new nationality

Any Player who refers to art. 5 par.1 to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football in accordance with art. 5par. 2 shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only if he fulfils one of the following conditions:

?

This from an article from OFC yesterday:

http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/News/ViewArticl...

Your loss,  fantastic place to holiday and the people are absolutely wonderful.  

No. Section 6 refers to players who can represent more than one national team contemporaneously (e.g. if Deklan was born in SA, but had a NZ parent, Marco is a good example of this).

But for FIFA purposes, Deklan has to change from one nationality (SA) to another (NZ) in accordance with the regulations under Section 7. Deklan does not currently qualify under these regulations, but can be granted eligibility under the exceptions policy if NZF can demonstrate that the granting of eligibility would not breach the spirit of the regulation (and a pretty good case for that can be made). This is a standard procedure that any national association is (or at least should be) aware of, and as noted here in this thread, there have been plentiful examples of other national associations following this procedure without any problems and ensuring eligibility of players in question.

The fact that we're not waving FIFA's exemption certificate in OFC's face makes me think we fudgeed this up.

Given exemption certificates and things would be confidential as between NZF and FIFA it's almost like someone with inside knowledge was interested in Anthony Hudson's team slipping on a banana skin.

Can't for the life of me think of anyone involved in an Island nation who would fit that bill.

or (hopefully) with changes to personnel and filing systems being filing systems, they are still trying to find it

NZF statement: Pacific Games Player Eligibility

Monday 13 July, 2015

For immediate release

New Zealand Football CEO Andy Martin confirmed on Monday the national body will be lodging a formal appeal with Oceania Football regarding the eligibility of Deklan Wynne for the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Papua New Guinea.

Having taken advice from Oceania Football Confederation on the rules for the competition and having received confirmation of eligibility of the squad from the Pacific Games Council in advance of the tournament, Martin said New Zealand Football will take up their right of appeal on the decision reached on Sunday.

“New Zealand Football has acted in good faith at all times and we would have expected any issues on player eligibility to have been raised in advance, through the process we were given, so that they could have been dealt with properly in a timely fashion,” Martin said.

“Our lawyers are working on the appeal currently and are reviewing both the process followed and the OFC Disciplinary Committee’s interpretation of the Regulations Governing the Application of the Statutes and how this has been applied in similar cases.”

New Zealand Football will comment further at a press conference to be held on Tuesday 14 July.

Update from NZF: http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/nzf-statement-pacific-...

Snap Dale.

So essentially "we told you who our players were and you didn't say anything so it's not fair."

http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/nzf-statement-pacific-...

This is not good. Sounds like we screwed up - targetting the process rather than the actual decision.

Everyone talks in hushed tones but no one is saying 'I think so and so did it and here is reason a, b and c'

The 2 obvious ones, Ricki and Frank, Ricki would be very stupid to stab NZ in the back and Frank, how would he find out? He's usually in the bottom of the wine bottle to act coherently.

They could also be working under restrictions from lawyers, etc and have to be careful about what they say.

Im thinking Ricki may have tried to find Aussie born PNG players (Similar to the way he found Reid, Smith and Wee mac) and while on his mission discovered this rule and has let Vanuatu FA know NZ don't comply.

Who told what to who is all well and good... and having someone (Ricki, Frank, or even a small island nation) to throw stones at may make some feel better. The fact remains it was NZF's responsibility to dot i's, cross t's, and attain all the relevant exemptions/approvals (be they from FIFA and/or OFC and/or IOC).

They failed - and someone needs to be accountable. This is for Olympic qualification... not just a tin-pot OFC competition (or, the Pac Games), NZF had to be 100% sure every single duck was in a row. 

Evidently, they didn't. They failed the players. They failed us.

That would be extremely vindictive; don't think that happened.

What interests me is that someone knew about it and sat on it. Vanuatu were never going to protest this before the match cause if they lost, the ace up the sleeve was a reversal. Swap out Wynne for another FB prior to KO and the result may likely have been the same. Its not in the best interest of Vanuatu to protest prior to KO.

Now who is smart enough to know the regs? Having heard the interview on TV, you can bet dollars to donuts its not anyone in the Vanuatu team so who told them? Why would someone tell them and what do they stand to gain from it? Why do people at NZF not know this?

It all points back to the same thing everyone else has mentioned - NZF have zero relationship with anyone in the confederation and probably despised by the other 10 countries so any chance they get to trip up NZF, they will take and send another country to a tournament.

this is a bit shark if true though

"..having received confirmation of eligibility of the squad from the Pacific Games Council in advance of the tournament.."

Your assuming they failed but did they? Or are we at the mercy of OFC interpreting the rules in a different way to suit themselves! I suppose the 'appeal' to fifa or whoever will shed some light on the matter. I think we should save the mud slinging until it has been decided one way or the other

But Pacific Games eligibility rules are pretty basic - someone posted them on the other page, and under them Deklan qualifies. But the Pacific Games regulations aren't the same as FIFA ones, and the Olympic qualifying tournament is run under the FIFA auspices, so player eligibility is dependent on FIFA regulations, not Pacific Games rules (heck, they even had a team that's not a member of FIFA competing, that at least should have given someone at NZF pause to consider what the clearance from that particular Council meant or didn't mean).

It's also telling that Martin didn't say that OFC cleared the players as eligible, but merely that they didn't raise any issues about eligibility (and as I said in a previous post, the bar at actual match time is set pretty low, as the onus is on national association to ensure they've complied with both general FIFA regulations and the competition-specific regulations).

If he was eligible for the match surely NZF would just be saying now "He was definitely eligible, end of story", and not "But, but, you said he could play".