is not possible. This circumstance is rather unique and the FIFA Statutes and regulations do not provide for a solution". In 2007, the FIFA Legal Committee invited the FAI voluntarily to confine itself to selecting for its association teams Northern Irish players who meet one of the following requirements: a) the player was born in the Republic of Ireland, b) his biological mother or father was born in the Republic of Ireland, c) his grandmother or grandfather was born in the Republic of Ireland, or d) he has lived continuously, for at least two years, in the Republic of Ireland. FIFA also proposed an agreement between the Irish FA and the Football Association of Ireland which read: (…) every player born on the territory of Northern Ireland, holding the UK nationality and being entitled to a passport of the Republic of Ireland or born on the territory of the Republic of Ireland and holding the Irish nationality could either play for the [FAI] or the [IFA], under the condition that all other relevant prerequisites pertaining to player’s eligibility for a specific Association team are fulfilled Whereas the FAI favoured the proposal, the IFA did not. Following the IFA's rejection, FIFA told the IFA that they had "concluded to adhere to the status quo". In 2010, the IFA challenged the FAI in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). CAS concluded that the Irish FA "cannot reasonably claim that Mr Kearns' situation is to be equated with shared nationality as provided under Article 16 or that he requests a change of association from a starting point of a shared nationality. His situation, with respect to his Irish nationality, is not governed by Article 16, but by the general principle set forth by Article 15 par. 1 of the said Regulations. No further connection (as described by Article 16) has to exist between Mr Kearns and the Republic of Ireland to make him eligible to play for the FAI’s representative team." See also Cap-tied Grandfather rule Laws of the Game (association football) List of association footballers who have been capped for two senior national teams References Notes External links List of players appearing for more than one country; Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Laws of association football Association football terminology Sport and nationality FIFA