O'Neill says eligibility rule is unfair on young players

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill says the eligibility rule linking his team with the Republic of Ireland is "not particularly fair".

He said what upsets him most is the pressure it puts on young players to make a choice they cannot undo. He was speaking to BBC Sport ahead of a Nations League quadruple-header, four internationals packed into one window.

The case in focus is Arsenal teenager Ceadach O'Neill. He has two senior caps for Northern Ireland, caps meaning appearances at full international level, and he is in the squad for that four-game run. He has been subject to an approach from the Republic, according to BBC Sport.

Any player born in Northern Ireland can also play for the Republic. It does not work the other way. A player born in the Republic cannot play for Northern Ireland unless he qualifies another way, through family ties or residency.

That one-way street comes from history and law. Under the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 peace accord that followed the conflict known as The Troubles, people born in Northern Ireland can hold both British and Irish passports. A 2010 ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, sport's highest court, then allowed players born anywhere on the island of Ireland to represent the Republic without needing the usual links of birthplace, parents, grandparents or long-term residence.

FIFA, football's world governing body, says a player can apply to switch international allegiance only once. That detail matters for Ceadach O'Neill. If he plays in the coming window, he would have to wait until the age of 21 to switch to the Republic. A fourth cap for Northern Ireland would shut that door at any stage.

O'Neill said asking a young player to make that call before he has even been a professional for two years is not the right thing. "We can't change the rules," he told BBC Sport in an interview (BBC Sport). FAI director of football John Martin said in May that the association should at "the bare minimum" be sounding out eligible players.

O'Neill has lived with this debate for years. On his return for a second spell in December 2022 he said he hoped to use the rule to Northern Ireland's advantage. In 2018 he said eligibility should be a football issue, not a political or religious one.

For fans new to the story, this is why a squad list can carry extra weight. Ninety minutes give strangers something to feel together. A teenager choosing a shirt is choosing where those memories will live.