Should FIFA Start Taking Action? - International Switches

Declan Rice has chosen to represent England over Ireland in his international career having made three international friendly appearances for the Irish. According to FIFA rules, you can switch nationalities if you have not appeared in a competitive international for your current nation.

Do FIFA need to change this?

Switching nationalities can sometimes be a bad move. You represent your country and then you think 'hang on, I can't get into that team, so therefore I'll declare for this country because I might be good enough?.' It happens so often in the football world, most recently with Declan Rice, switching from Ireland to England.

How does this exactly work though? Well for example if you're Italian but you were born in the UK, you can technically declare to play for England. Even if you're parents or grandparents were from England but you grew up in Italy, you can still have a chance of representing England. Living in the territory for three years can still provide you citizenship and therefore you can represent that country.

Fans from Spain are still at unease about Diego Costa playing for their national side as Costa is actually Brazilian. The Atletico Madrid striker grew up in Brazil and he even represented them twice. Why was he granted the switch? He only appeared in two friendly matches. Seeing as he hadn't played competitively, he was allowed the switch in 2013 because the Brazilian born held Spanish citizenship.

A common problem with international switches is players moving from Ireland to England. Jack Grealish decided to switch to England after impressing the Three Lions in 2015, despite representing the Boys In Green at youth level. This is exactly the same with Declan Rice. Grealish hasn't featured for the England senior team once and has only played at U21 level. Many think this will be the same with Rice however the ex Irish international is in the West Ham first team in the Premier League and is performing well for the Hammers. The central midfielder even grew up in London.

England manager Gareth Southgate has already told the media he would like to use Rice come March for England's international matches.

With players using 'small' countries as a stepping stone to get into 'bigger' countries or just simply switching because they feel more English than Irish for example, does FIFA need to take action? Should International switching be banned?

Ex Irish international Kevin Kilbane was very critical of Declan's thought to switch - back in September. Kilbane came back to blast his decision again by saying "it's a slap in the face for young players." The ex Sunderland and Everton man represented Ireland 110 times and also said "I'm disappointed it has taken so long for this decision to be made and the announcement to come about."

"As soon as he turned the call down last September it was done for me, I wouldn't have picked him again."

Kilbane clearly showed his Irish pride despite being English born. This shows that representing your country should be an honour and you play because you feel proud to play for that country, not because it's an option on the table.