Rice saga should prompt a re-think by FIFA hierarchy
THE Declan Rice ‘will he or won’t he’ saga eventually came to a conclusion this week when the West Ham player decided to switch allegiance away from Ireland and declare for the country of his birth, England.
While very disappointing, the 20-year-olds decision is hardly a surprise given that he pulled out of former manager Martin O’Neill’s Irish squads last season, asking for more time to consider his international future.
Qualifying under the ‘Granny Rule’ (his paternal grandparents were from Douglas in Co Cork), Rice first lined out for the Republic at U16 level and has played over 20 games at youth level, winning player of the year awards at U17 and U19 level.
Last March he made his senior international debut in a man-of-thematch performance away to Turkey in a friendly before making two further friendly appearances against France in May and USA in June.
Rice’s meteoric rise to the top hasn’t been all plain-sailing though. After spending seven years at the clubs youth academy, Chelsea decided to let the then 14-year-old defender go.
However, he soon got over that disappointment, joining West Hams at youth level and signing his first professional contract little over a year later.
He broke into the Hammers senior team as a 17-year-old and has now notched up 50 Premier League appearances. He is widely considered the best English-born player of his age and his accelerated development at West Ham brought him to the attention of the English manager Gareth Southgate. There is no doubt his head has been turned by England.
In a lengthy statement released on his social media accounts Rice said he phoned both Mick McCarthy and Southgate to inform them of his intention to seek a transfer ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The long carefully worded PR manicured statement said all the right things for someone in his position but it all rang a little hollow for me.
He was very happy to declare for Ireland at a time when his young career had suffered a setback with little or no prospects of getting a call-up to an English underage squad.
There is no coincidence that this uncertainty over Rice’s international future arose with his recent move to a new footballing agent. The English Premiership is awash with mercenary agents and there is no doubt Rice was convinced that his earning power as a really top class English international far outweighed that of an Irish one.
His PR men can dress it up all they want. I do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the player. He may have been convincing himself over the last number of years that he was Irish but ultimately you can’t get away from the fact that he was born and raised in England.
I think his pride was genuine when playing for the birthplace of his grandparents and I believe his Dad was hoping he would stay with the green jersey, but ultimately our proposition at the moment is not as attractive as our English counterparts.
Dreams like World Cup success and English captaincy have been whispered in his ears. A lot of players in his position would probably have made the same choice. I think he is a super young player and is destined to have a long stay at the top of both the English domestic and international game. As Mick McCarthy said ‘Good luck to him’.
In light of this case, and some others, FIFA may now be forced to take another look at this ruling.
In 2004 they changed their rules so players could represent one country at youth level and then another at senior level (so long as they did so by the age of 21). The rule was amended in 2009 so players at any age could make the switch.
Senior friendlies do not tie a player down to their original country of choice. My view would be that, whatever about youth or underage, once you pull on a jersey at senior level, whether it be competitive or friendly, than that is that.
A senior cap should not be like trying a geansai on in a clothes shop. ‘This one’s not for me - let me try another’.