Martin’s bid for top Fifa job is major setback for FA candidate
FOOTBALL Association chairman Greg Clarke’s hopes of a smooth accession to a vice-president position on the Fifa Council have been placed in doubt by Irish FA president David Martin’s bid for the role.
With one of the eight vice-president berths on world football’s executive committee reserved for a British representative, Clarke has made little secret of his desire to replace former Manchester United chief executive David Gill, who announced his decision to stand down earlier this year.
But now the 65-year-old Martin has declared his candidacy for the £190,000-a-year role, too.
The Ulsterman has helped run the IFA since 2016, having returned to the national governing body after he was forced to quit in 2010 following strong criticism of his role in former chief executive Howard Wells’ dismissal.
He also failed three times to meet an IFA competency test for office-bearers before it was scrapped in 2013.
Since taking over, however, he has presided over a relatively successful era for Northern Ireland’s teams, the opening of a revamped Windsor Park and the country’s hosting of the 2017 Uefa Women’s Under-19 Championship.
The Clarke v Martin contest, which will be settled at a Uefa Congress in Rome in February, comes as the FA is trying to rally European support for an English-led British bid for the 2030 World Cup.
With the deadline for Uefa’s Fifa Council candidates to declare themselves two days ago, Uefa revealed the pair’s intentions to run for the vice-president role on the same day it confirmed its president Aleksander Ceferin will be re-elected for a second term unopposed.
The Slovenian lawyer took over at Uefa’s Nyon headquarters in September 2016 when Michel Platini was banned from football for financial misconduct and it was already well known that he intended to stand for a full fouryear term in 2019.
MICHAEL O’Neill has revealed that he held frank and open discussions with striker Kyle Lafferty about his past and future international career ahead of bringing him back into the Northern Ireland fold.
Lafferty’s was the stand-out name on a list of 28 players announced in O’Neill’s squad for next Thursday’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Sunday week’s Nations League clash with Austria at Windsor Park.
Following last month’s double-header when Lafferty was a late withdrawal from matches in Austria and Bosnia citing an Achilles problem, O’Neill has had numerous conversations about the Rangers star.
As well as speaking to Lafferty, the Northern Ireland boss talked to senior internationals and the Fermanagh man’s club boss Steven Gerrard.
And his decision, although not taken lightly, was to include the 31-year-old.
He’s back and it could be with a bang if he notches the winner against the Republic at the Aviva Stadium.
That would see O’Neill smile one month on from the forward making him so angry that, along with the IFA, they invoked Fifa’s five-day rule meaning Lafferty couldn’t play for Rangers in their next match against Hamilton.
O’Neill, who said that Lafferty apologised for his actions, commented: “I have spoken with Kyle and had good conversations, both on the phone and in person when I met with him in Glasgow.
“I also had a good conversation with both Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister at Rangers.
“It’s important to talk to Rangers because you need a good relationship with club managers. We have two players at Rangers now and a number of young players in their under-age teams as well.
“Relationships there are good. Rangers fully understood the situation and their statement at the time was clear. GARETH Southgate has defended the inclusion of Wayne Rooney in the England squad for the fixtures with USA and Croatia, revealing he could even feature as captain in a tribute that has been discussed for over a year.
Rooney retired from international duty in August 2017 after 119 caps and a record 53 goals, and his England career is set to be honoured by a final, further cap against the USA at Wembley next Thursday with a substitute appearance.
The England manager remains adamant that the occasion will not devalue the shirt and also described as “strange” the divi-
“Rangers understood the situation. Kyle understands. I told him it is black and white.
“There’s no doubt Kyle would understand. At no point did I think he was going to say, ‘That’s it, I’ve had enough and I’m not prepared to play anymore’. Not at all.
“The important thing is that he is in the right frame of mind and ready to play, that’s the only thing that I’m concerned with. I spoke with our senior players as well because that was important. They felt it was the right thing to do for the squad as well.
“It’s good to have Kyle back in although he has a little bit of an injury concern, so his availability is contingent on how he comes through the weekend.
“The squad won’t have any issues with Kyle being back or anything like that. We were disappointed at the time, but you move on.
“He didn’t follow international protocol, so it wasn’t acceptable and that’s why we stopped him playing in the next game. And the same would happen to any other player if they go through the same thing.
“It’s always a tough decision when you have the scenario of why he was unavailable for the last game, so yes it wasn’t a decision I made lightly. Northern Ireland squad: Michael McGovern (Norwich City), Trevor Carson (Motherwell), Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Leeds United), Conor Hazard (Celtic); Aaron Hughes (Hearts), Gareth McAuley (Glasgow Rangers), Jonathan Evans (Leicester City), Craig Cathcart (Watford), Conor McLaughlin (Millwall), Patrick McNair (Middlesbrough), Jamal Lewis (Norwich City), Michael Smith (Hearts), Tom Flanagan (Sunderland); Steven Davis (Southampton), Niall
“A lot was created in the media that it was the end of his international career. At no point did I ever initiate or indicate McGinn (Aberdeen), Corry Ev- ans (Blackburn Rovers), Shane Ferguson (Millwall), Stuart Dallas (Leeds United), George Saville (Middlesbrough, loan), Jordan Jones (Kilmarnock), Gavin Whyte (Oxford United), Jordan Thompson (Blackpool); Kyle Lafferty (Rangers), Josh Magennis (Bolton Wanderers), Jamie Ward (Charlton Athletic, loan), Liam Boyce (Burton Albion), Paul Smyth (Queens Park Rangers), Kyle Vassell (Rotherham United).
that was likely to happen.
“For me, the main thing is that Kyle gets himself back playing first at Rangers and