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59-546: They were coached by former Olympiakos of Greece player, Nick Kambolis . After challenging the eventual ASL champion Los Angeles Skyhawks for the Western Division title through most of the 1976 season, Utah faded late and finished 3rd. They lost in the playoff quarterfinals to the Tacoma Tides by a score of 2–1. George Kossmann Defender (1976) Cres McTavish This article about a soccer club from Utah

118-480: A "clear connection" to a country that they had not been born in but wished to represent. This ruling explicitly stated that, in such scenarios, the player must have at least one parent or grandparent who was born in that country, or the player must have been resident in that country for at least two years. In November 2007, FIFA President Sepp Blatter told the BBC: "If we don't stop this farce, if we don't take care about

177-411: A FIFA-affiliated association. In 2004, FIFA introduced a rule requiring players to demonstrate a "clear connection" to any country they wish to represent, a response to the trend of naturalising foreign players. FIFA has the authority to overturn results of international matches featuring ineligible players. In January 2021, FIFA revamped the eligibility system, allowing players tied to one nationality

236-623: A UK nation, Northern Ireland attempted to call up Germany-born Maik Taylor, Nigeria-born Dele Adebola and Jamaica-born David Johnson. McMenemy's successor Sammy McIlroy was not pleased with his predecessor's policy, upon being appointed as Northern Ireland manager he said: "It's farcical chasing players with absolutely no connection to our country." Former FA executive David Davies confirmed that England had once considered calling up Italian Carlo Cudicini , Brazilian Edu and Frenchmen Steed Malbranque and Louis Saha during Sven-Göran Eriksson 's time as England manager. In February 2004, there

295-537: A common nationality with at least one other FIFA member association. In these instances, under Article 6.1 of the Regulations Governing the Applications of Statutes, FIFA Statutes (nationality entitling players to represent more than one association), if a player was not born in the member associations' territory and does not have a parent or grandparent that was born in the territory, the player

354-675: A country in virtue of that country's laws shall be eligible to play for a national or representative team of that country." As there is no United Kingdom national team, he was eligible to choose a "representative team of the country" and opted for Northern Ireland. Eric Young (born in Singapore) and Pat Van Den Hauwe (born in Belgium) had both previously opted for Wales under the same rules in 1985 and 1990 respectively, although both grew up in England; Australian Tony Dorigo had been denied

413-631: A history with Northern Ireland. Sanchez spoke of his frustration with the rule: "I must stick by the British agreement which says that you shouldn't approach a player unless he has family ties with that particular country. "It's frustrating but my job is to manage the Northern Ireland international team and theirs (the Irish FA ) is to make policy. "I must continue to work with the players I have and I'm very happy to do that. The wording of

472-399: A new nationality , states: Any player who refers to art. 5 par. 1 to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football [in a match (either in full or in part) in an official competition of any category or any type of football] shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only if he fulfils one of the following conditions: a) He was born on the territory of

531-482: A new ruling came into effect that permitted a player to represent one country at youth international level and another at senior international level, provided that the player applied before their 21st birthday. The first player to do so was Antar Yahia , who played for the France under-18s before representing Algeria in qualifiers for the 2004 Olympic Games . More recent examples include Sone Aluko , who has caps for

590-699: A player switching international football nationalities is José Altafini , who played for Brazil in the 1958 FIFA World Cup and for Italy in the subsequent 1962 FIFA World Cup . Other 20th-century examples of players representing two or three separate countries are: This does not include the hundreds of players whose teams were affected by changes to geopolitical borders e.g. East Germany / Germany , Soviet Union / Ukraine , Yugoslavia / Croatia . Furthermore, some international players have played for another FIFA-recognised country in unofficial international matches, i.e. fixtures not recognised by FIFA as full internationals. This category includes: In January 2004,

649-463: A player to have a choice of representing several national teams. It is not uncommon for national team managers and scouts to attempt to persuade players to change their FIFA nationality; in June 2011, for example, Scotland manager Craig Levein confirmed that his colleagues had started a dialogue with United States under-17 international Jack McBean in an attempt to persuade him to represent Scotland in

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708-462: A player's eligibility to represent a particular national team in officially sanctioned international competitions and friendly matches. Traditionally, athlete eligibility has been tied to legal nationality, allowing players with multiple nationalities to represent more than one country, especially after naturalisation. However, national teams are organised by national football associations, not all of which are affiliated with FIFA. Some countries, like

767-657: A score of 3–2, in what proved to be the final Skyhawk game ever. The Skyhawks also played a friendly that season in Los Angeles Jackie Robinson Stadium against the 1980 US Men's Olympic Team in March losing the match 2–1. Due to financial difficulties, the team folded at the end of the 1979 season. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Champions MVP Leading Scorer Leading Goalkeeper Coach of

826-403: A team of Scots than win with a team of foreigners. This is not a club side we're talking about it's SCOTLAND...I know the players will definitely be against it". Ahead of a meeting with the other home associations, SFA executive David Taylor urged caution ahead of calls to opt out of the agreement. He said "We have to watch it does not become a free-for-all with the home countries trying to get

885-797: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Los Angeles Skyhawks The Los Angeles Skyhawks was an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California , that was a member of the American Soccer League . Founded as part of the American Soccer League's expansion to the west coast in 1976, they were the first professional sports team to be based in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. The ASL, under commissioner Bob Cousy , had expanded in an attempt to compete with

944-704: Is able to represent another member association that shares the same common nationality after five years residency. There has been a series of additional agreements between national football associations of the United Kingdom ( The Football Association , the Scottish Football Association , the Football Association of Wales and the Irish Football Association ), the latest of which came in 2010 and

1003-647: The England under-19s and Nigeria , and Andrew Driver , a former England under-21 representative who is committed to the Scotland national team. In March 2004, FIFA amended its wider policy on international eligibility. This was reported to be in response to a growing trend in some countries, such as Qatar and Togo , to naturalise players born and raised elsewhere who have no apparent ancestral links to their new country of citizenship. An emergency FIFA committee ruling judged that players must be able to demonstrate

1062-899: The Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes . Friendly match appearances do not commit a player to one country; Jermaine Jones played several friendlies for Germany but made his debut for the United States in 2010. Thiago Motta had three caps for Brazil in matches deemed friendlies for Brazil (participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup as a non-conference guest team) and went on to represent Italy for five years. Diego Costa represented Brazil in two friendlies before switching his allegiances to Spain in 2013, going on to represent

1121-495: The UEFA European Championship ). However, appearing in a tournament qualifier would not prohibit a change of eligibility. Furthermore, players who played for their home country but not at senior level, who were under 21 at the time and have since lived in a new country for five years or more can apply for the right to represent their new place of residence. This also applies to players that began living on

1180-573: The (English) Football Association (FA) had advised the player's agent that the international change of allegiance could go ahead. However, the SFA discovered that as he had an English mother, he was not able to represent any Home nation other than England as a result. The SFA had chosen to abide by the agreement; unlike the Irish Football Association (IFA), who in addition to courting David Johnson had capped Germany-born Maik Taylor

1239-461: The 1976 and 1977 seasons. At the time, Birmingham was the largest stadium in the valley with a capacity of 10,000, and it was centrally located. Many of the players commented that the field conditions and lighting were better than that at many lower division European stadiums. After 1977, the Skyhawks moved to Shephard Stadium at Los Angeles Pierce Community College . The Skyhawks managed to obtain

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1298-531: The 1976 season, they finished 2nd in the West and 4th overall with 13 wins, 4 draws, and 7 defeats. After a 3–2 first round playoff win over the California Sunshine, they lost to Western Division champion Sacramento in the Western Division playoff finals, 2–1. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. By 1978,

1357-453: The A.S.L.'s leading scorer and Parkinson had the lowest goals against average (0.78) among A.S.L. goalkeepers. Led by these stars and a strong supporting cast, the Skyhawks had the league's best record (13 wins, 6 draws, 2 defeats) and regularly drew upwards of 4,000 fans per game, easily leading the ASL in attendance. The 1976 ASL playoff format had the top 3 teams in each division qualifying for

1416-513: The ASL was in severe financial difficulty, with every team losing money. On the field, the Skyhawks, led by ASL leading scorer and MVP Jimmy Rolland and goalkeeper Brian Parkinson (again 2nd in GAA), returned to the top of the Western Division and with a record of 17–6–1. They made it to the championship game for the 2nd time in 3 years, but lost in the final, 1–0 to the New York Apollo, who had

1475-488: The England B team and had been an unused substitute for the England under-21s. In late September 1999, the Ipswich Town forward was called up by Wales (and withdrew from the squad due to injury) and later Scotland. The Welsh and Scottish FAs believed he was eligible to play for them. Johnson was a Jamaican immigrant who was raised by foster parents in England, and he believed he could choose which UK nation to represent;

1534-776: The North American Soccer League. Coming into the league with the Skyhawks were the Oakland (later Golden Bay) Buccaneers, Tacoma Tides , Sacramento Spirits , and the Utah Pioneers (later Golden Spikers). These teams formed the Western Division, while the Eastern Division had the established teams New York Apollo , Connecticut Yankees , Rhode Island Oceaneers , Chicago Cats , New Jersey Americans , and Cleveland Cobras . The Skyhawks played their games at Birmingham High School Stadium for

1593-546: The United Kingdom, are represented by constituent associations (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland), while other associations represent regions not typically recognized as independent countries, such as dependent territories (e.g., Gibraltar ), autonomous states or territories (e.g., the Faroe Islands , Kosovo ), and enclaves, principalities, or microstates (e.g., San Marino ). Not all countries have

1652-535: The Year First Team All Star FIFA eligibility rules In association football , the FIFA eligibility rules are the eligibility criteria established by FIFA (International Association Football Federation), the sport's governing body, to facilitate the selection of representative teams for international competitions. Specifically, FIFA maintains and implements rules determining

1711-577: The agreement was adjusted and published by FIFA in December 2006: 3. British associations 134 England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 135 e.g. a player who was born on the Cayman Islands and holds British nationality In October 2008, Spanish striker Nacho Novo said that he would apply for a British passport if it meant he'd become eligible to play for Scotland . The SFA stated that he would not be eligible as they would abide by

1770-461: The agreement. The agreement was completely revised in 2009 following a rewrite of the FIFA statutes in 2008. The loophole regarding British players born abroad and selecting a national team had been closed and then reopened. The revised ruling also removed the possibility of ineligibility due to a foreign-born adopted player having no parental or grand-parental links to a nation, as it is based on where

1829-482: The best players available," "It goes to the heart of why we exist as a separate country and could force people into asking why we do not have a UK football team." On 1 March 2004, the four British associations voted to retain the agreement. In January 2006, Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez had his hopes of bringing in players born outside Northern Ireland – but who held a British passport – dashed. Irish FA chiefs told Sanchez he could only select players who have

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1888-432: The chance to play for his birth nation by his club manager at Aston Villa due to the travelling distances and low standards of opposition, and successfully obtained citizenship in 1986 in order to play for England – but had no relevant British ancestry and could have represented any of the home nations. Players in the same situation today would only be allowed to represent the territory of their (grand)parent's birthplace as

1947-648: The clause has been amended to refer to the Football Association's "territory" and not "country". The four associations met on 27 February 1993 at Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) released minutes from the meeting to the press. On the occasion of the meeting of the International Football Association Board on 27 February 1993 the four British associations ratified

2006-473: The following agreement, which came into force on 1 February 1993, on the criteria which should determine the eligibility of the player to be selected for one of the national teams of the British associations: David Johnson was a Jamaican international who had played four games for the Caribbean nation; his most recent game was a friendly against United States on 9 September 1999. He had previously played for

2065-454: The four home associations it is not enough any more." The agreement is often erroneously thought to be a response to cases similar to Maik Taylor , who was born in Germany to an English father and chose to represent Northern Ireland at international level despite having no ties to the nation. Taylor was called up to Northern Ireland in 1998, five years after the 1993 (gentlemen's) agreement

2124-474: The future. Gareth Bale was asked about a possibility to play for England , being of English descent through his grandmother, but ultimately opted to represent Wales , his country of birth. In June 2009, FIFA Congress passed a motion that removed the age limit for players who had already played for a country's national team at youth level to change national associations. This ruling features in Article 18 of

2183-758: The governing body for rugby union , specifies that if a player has been legally adopted under the laws of the relevant country, descent is traced through the adoptive parent(s). This replacement also applies in cases where the player was not adopted, but one or both biological parents were themselves adopted. In September 2020, the 70th edition of the FIFA Congress approved a rule change that now allows players to switch 3 years later if they have played no more than three competitive matches at senior level prior to them turning 21 including no appearances in FIFA World Cup finals matches or continental finals (e.g.

2242-544: The invaders from Brazil towards Europe, Asia and Africa then, in the 2014 or the 2018 World Cup, out of the 32 teams you will have 16 full of Brazilian players." The residency requirement for players lacking birth or ancestral connections with a specific country was extended from two to five years in May 2008 at FIFA's Congress as part of Blatter's efforts to preserve the integrity of competitions involving national teams. The relevant current FIFA statute, Article 7: Acquisition of

2301-442: The latter at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cups . Apostolos Giannou represented Greece in a friendly in 2015, before switching his allegiances to Australia , making his debut for the latter in March 2016. A FIFA Player's Status Committee is responsible for making such judgements. Under FIFA rules, eligibility by descent is strictly limited to biological descent; adoption is not considered at all. By contrast, World Rugby ,

2360-427: The league's best record at 18–5–1. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The Skyhawks lost much of their scoring punch with the departures of Jimmy Hinch and Jim Rolland. Despite it all, the Skyhawks managed to place 3rd in the West with a 13–11–4 record. But the season ended with a first round playoff loss to Sacramento by

2419-533: The men's football tournament at the 2015 Pacific Games , which also determines the 2016 Oceania Olympic Football qualifier, Deklan Wynne , who was born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand from early childhood, played in the semi-final for New Zealand, who won the match 3–0. After the game, a protest was lodged by their opponents Vanuatu , on the basis that Wynne was not an eligible player. As Wynne

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2478-474: The only man to coach an ASL and NASL champion. Hinch was named MVP, and Newman was coach of the year. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. The Skyhawks were again led offensively by Jimmy Hinch and Jimmy Rolland (who finished 2nd and 3rd in the league in scoring) and in goal by Brian Parkinson (who finished 2nd in GAA). While they couldn't duplicate their dominance of

2537-489: The option to switch allegiance to another nation. Fielding ineligible players can lead to sanctions, including the overturning of match results. Historically, it was possible for players to play for different national teams. For example, Alfredo Di Stéfano played for Argentina (1947) and Spain (1957–61). Di Stefano's Real Madrid teammate Ferenc Puskás also played for Spain after amassing 85 caps for Hungary earlier in his career. A third high-profile instance of

2596-455: The player is educated before the age of 18. The home nations have agreed to remove a clause that enables players to gain eligibility for one of the eight national teams due to residency. The FIFA statutes state that "Associations sharing a common nationality may make an agreement under which item (d) of par. 1 of this article is deleted completely or amended to specify a longer time limit". The clause removed is: (d) He has lived continuously on

2655-457: The playoffs, with the 1st place teams earning a first round bye while the 2nd place team hosted the 3rd place team. After earning a first round bye, the Skyhawks faced the 2nd place Tacoma Tides, who had defeated Utah 2–1 in the first round. The Skyhawks took a 1–0 lead, but midway through the second half, goalkeeper Brian Parkinson suffered a head injury in a collision, and Tacoma equalized against backup keeper Marine Cano to force overtime. Facing

2714-608: The previous year. Taylor was in the same situation as Johnson: he was born outside of the UK with one English parent. The Herald reported that "It is important to highlight, that under the agreement signed by the four British associations, the UK passport clause is only operative in the event that the player, his natural mother and father and his natural grandparents, are all born outside the United Kingdom". A Football Association of Wales (FAW) spokesman Cerri Stennett said that they were "extremely puzzled by this development" and they thought "he

2773-437: The prospect of going into a penalty kick shootout without their #1 keeper, the Skyhawks won the game in the second 10-minute overtime period on a goal by Jimmy Rolland. In the ASL championship game, the Skyhawks faced Eastern Division winner and defending champion New York Apollo. Over 9,000 fans showed up at Birmingham Stadium and saw the Skyhawks fall behind early, 1–0. Then late in the first half, Skyhawk defender Alty McKenzie

2832-400: The relevant association; b) His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association; c) His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association; d) He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association. Under the criteria generally, it is possible for

2891-484: The services of the renowned Ron Newman as their head coach, and he assembled a roster consisting of a number of young players from England's second and third divisions. Many of these players also had some limited first division experience; players such as goalkeeper Brian Parkinson (Everton), Midfielder Tony "Wheels" Whelan (Manchester City), Jimmy Rolland (Northwich Victoria), and forward Jimmy "the Price" Hinch (York), were

2950-533: The stars of the team. In addition, U.S. college player of the year Steve Ralbovsky (Brown University) spurned the N.A.S.L. and signed with the Skyhawks. The defense was anchored by 38-year-old sweeper and former Scottish International Ron Yeats ("the Colussus"), a veteran of the English First Division, where he was Liverpool's captain when Liverpool rose to glory in the 1960s. Hinch ended up as

3009-598: The territory before the age of 10 for at least three years. FIFA also facilitates a reversal of a change request in certain specific circumstances. FIFA takes punitive action against teams that field ineligible players. In August 2011, FIFA expelled Syria from the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification process following the appearance of George Mourad in a senior qualification match against Tajikistan . Mourad had made friendly match appearances for Sweden earlier in his career, but had not requested permission from FIFA to change national associations before playing for Syria. At

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3068-443: The territory of the relevant Association for at least two years If the home nations' associations had chosen not to remove or alter the 'd' clause and instead use the default FIFA statute clauses, players with a home nation nationality would be able to transfer to a club in another home nation and be eligible for that national team after a period of two years (providing they have not been capped or played in an official competition for

3127-556: Was 20 years old, it was impossible for him to have already lived in New Zealand for five years after the age of 18. This protest was upheld by the Oceania Football Confederation , resulting in New Zealand being disqualified and Vanuatu taking their place in the final. During the 2018 World Cup qualifiers Bolivia fielded Paraguayan ‑born Nelson David Cabrera (who had also played for Paraguay) in two matches—against Peru on 1 September 2016 (the match

3186-669: Was a lot of media speculation in Scotland about the possibility of Frenchman Didier Agathe and Italian Lorenzo Amoruso playing for Scotland. Berti Vogts , the German head coach of Scotland, appeared to be in favour of fielding the players. Scotland's playing captain Christian Dailly felt differently, telling the Daily Record newspaper that "I don't care if they call in Zinedine Zidane . I would rather lose with

3245-411: Was controversially sent off with a red card so L.A. had to play a man down the remainder of the game. But Hinch equalized early in the second half, and late in the game Ralbovsky was tripped from behind in the penalty area while on a breakaway. Skyhawk forward Ane Mihailovich buried the penalty kick into the back of the net past N.Y. keeper Gerard Joseph, and the Skyhawks were ASL champs, making Ron Newman

3304-404: Was eligible to play for any of the four home countries and that's why Lawrie McMenemy wanted him for Northern Ireland as well." Stennett stated that FIFA gave clearance to Johnson switch allegiance to Wales' national squad and "he was on the substitute's bench for a match." Under Lawrie McMenemy 's stewardship, Northern Ireland went through a phase of trying to call up players who had no links to

3363-509: Was in place. The agreement was not applied when Taylor was called up by the IFA, possibly because in his case, neither the FA, SFA nor FAW was interested in capping him, unlike e.g. David Johnson (below) and so raised no objection. Taylor was eligible to play for Northern Ireland due to FIFA regulations allowing him to. The relevant statute of the time read: "Any player who is a naturalised citizen of

3422-429: Was ratified by FIFA . In 1990, Nigel Spackman wanted to be called up by Scotland during his time at Rangers F.C. through his Scottish grandfather. However at the time, the four British Associations did not choose to accept players without parents pertaining to the nation. The Herald reported that "until recently that would have been enough to give him qualification to play for Scotland. But under an agreement by

3481-464: Was won 2–0 by Bolivia) and against Chile on 6 September 2016 (the match finished in a scoreless draw). Cabrera was subsequently found to be ineligible by FIFA, which resulted in the awarding of 3–0 wins for Bolivia's opponents, affecting the final standings in the table and contributing to Peru's qualification for the World Cup at the expense of Chile. There are 25 FIFA member associations that share

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