Why FIFA must close Ireland's north-south divide

By David Anderson

Published 08:01 03/03/10

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Imagine the outcry if Wales or Scotland spent time and money bringing a young player through their youth system, only for him to be nabbed by England when he is ready to make his senior debut.

Such an unfair situation exists across the Irish Sea where the Republic of Ireland are luring some of Northern Ireland's best young players south of the border.

Because of Northern Ireland's unique political status, players born in the Province are eligible to play for the Republic.

Manchester United's Darron Gibson and Portsmouth's Marc Wilson have exploited this loophole to pledge their futures to the South, and Everton's Shane Duffy is the latest to jump ship.

Duffy's defection is particularly galling for Nigel Worthington.

The teenage centre-half represented Northern Ireland at every junior level, right up to the Under-21s.

Worthington named him in his squad for today's friendly against Albania and had planned to hand him his debut, only for Duffy to opt for the Republic.

FIFA have scandalously failed to act on the IFA's appeals to end this ridiculous state of affairs.

In desperation, the IFA are going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an attempt to close this loophole and end this drain of talent across the border.

For the sake of fairness, I hope they succeed.

Worthington has a tough enough job without the Republic cherry-picking some of his best players.

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