L.T. Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/sport/story.jsp?story=457370 Football: Yanks puzzled by IFA 'snub' SOCCER officials in the United States are baffled at what is being considered a snub on the part of the Irish FA... over a proposed high-profile Four-nation tour involving the USA, Canada, Mexico and Northern Ireland next summer. Sources here say a Stateside agent approached the Windsor Avenue authorities with the idea and spoke to a top IFA official who promised to forward a letter authorising further work on the proposed tour. No letter was ever sent and no further contact was offered by the local officials. The Americans were particularly keen to have the Northern Ireland team over for the series of games, which would have been played in strong Irish centres such as Boston or New York. So, too, were the Canadians, whose own national team has not played internationals for some time. Their proposed games against us - again in such Northern Irish strongholds as Toronto - would have brought in huge crowds. The game against Mexico was planned for Los Angeles. Said one USA official: "Though the initial approach was made towards the end of the last Northern Ireland season and the tour idea would obviously have required a lot more work, we would certainly have welcomed your team. "There are a lot of Irish people throughout the States who would have enjoyed the games. "But the Irish FA just didn't seem interested in exploring the idea further." The USA team, thanks to great performances in the last two World Cup competitions, has climbed into the Top 20 of the FIFA rankings - while Northern Ireland has continued to slip into obscurity - so the indifference to a tour shown by the IFA has left the Americans baffled, especially since the games would have earned the IFA money. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland has arranged a three-match tour of the West Indies, playing national teams even lower down the rankings than themselves, games with little obvious crowd appeal or financial reward. Football in the area is under the control of the much-criticised Jack Warner, a friend of FIFA President, Sepp Blatter. Questions have been raised about what financial arrangements have been offered to the IFA to undertake such a low-profile, but highly glamorous, trip. Is the tour being funded by FIFA and if so what amount of money will go to the IFA? But in the meantime, the Americans, Canadians and Mexicans have been left to wonder why they weren't considered 'big' enough to play Northern Ireland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 quote:Originally posted by L.T. The USA team, thanks to great performances in the last two World Cup competitions, has climbed into the Top 20 of the FIFA rankings - Yeah finishing 32nd out of 32 in the 1998 World Cup must have really shot the States up the FIFA rankings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Since the article sort of shows confusion over having Ireland over, then its Northern Ireland, and they refer to the IFA, maybe they sent their invitation to the wrong federation? Which would be the explanation for their not getting an answer. Couldn't they just call someone first, that is usually how it is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarrek Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 The IFA is the Northern Ireland FA ... http://www.irishfa.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex M Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Maybe Northern Ireland don't want to get embarassed by the likes of Mexico and the USA? How about inviting the Rep of Ireland over if they're keen on having some Irish flavour here. Btw, I like the intiative on the part of the Americans to include its neighbours. Good on them. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fza Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 I think they`re just afraid of making their football crisis even worse. Because I`m pretty sure they`ll get a huge beating from Canada, USA and Mexico. It`s a question of pride, that`s all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Aside from the Northern Ireland issue, I'm just glad to see that the CSA was involved in an effort to get some home friendlies on the go. Who needs Northern Ireland anyway? Why not just have a tri-nations style tournament between Canada, the US and Mexico? I'm positive that if we did something like this every few years it would easily surpass the Gold Cup in terms of importance and prestige. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 The timing is interesting - next summer is already pretty darn busy with World Cup qualifying and (hopefully) the 2004 Olympics for Canada. It is nice for the CSA to get some more home friendlies (and matches period), though we are already going to have some home matches next year no matter what happens and as such its too bad this didn't happen in 2001, 2002 or 2003, when we didn't have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 You guys are reading a lot into a British tabloid story that doesn't use any identified sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Not sure that anybody is taking the article as gospel, but despite the lack of identified sources the author does seem aware that Canada hasn't played any home internationals in quite some time (even though "home" wasn't specified in the article) - something I wouldn't expect your average NI journalist to be aware of, unless he had to be aware of it for a reason. This might be a complete fabrication, but I'm willing to accept the article at face value until we hear or know otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Well, as long as it meets your approval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca Not sure that anybody is taking the article as gospel, but despite the lack of identified sources the author does seem aware that Canada hasn't played any home internationals in quite some time (even though "home" wasn't specified in the article) - something I wouldn't expect your average NI journalist to be aware of, unless he had to be aware of it for a reason. This might be a complete fabrication, but I'm willing to accept the article at face value until we hear or know otherwise. Why are you assuming that the author meant to say that we haven't played any home internationals in quite some time? If you are accepting the article at "face value" then why change that part? I thought he meant it as he wrote it, and I say this because in general the article is a mess. There are other really silly/strange comments: - as pointed out by amacpher, the US performance in the 1998 WC was anything but "great" - Toronto is a Northern Irish stronghold? (I don't think I've ever met anyone from Northern Ireland) - how can we host any men's internationals in Toronto? - somehow I find it hard to believe that the Americans were "particularly keen" on a Northern Irish visit (Ireland I can see, but Northern Ireland? the team that hasn't scored in a dozen games?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Boston and New York have strong Catholic Irish communities that would be thrilled to see the Republic of Ireland, but much less so Northern Ireland. Plus, I went to the IFA website and there is no mention at all of a West Indies trip. I think the only current connection between Canada and Northern Ireland is we're both managerless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Nothern Ireland are going to Jamaica, St. Kitts and Trinidad and Tobago at the end of May. There was also some talk on a Northern Irish message board about this article. The general tone seemed to be that it was typical IFA incompetence, if it were true, and they weren't too bothered because the Carribean is a nicer trip. Plus they think they can score against St. Kitts I agree the article is a mess and I don't give it too much weight. It could be true, but I'm not too worked up about missing out on playing Norn Iron and since the info about the game being in Toronto is obviously false, there's no guarantee it would have been a home international at all anyway. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 quote:Originally posted by DJT Why are you assuming that the author meant to say that we haven't played any home internationals in quite some time? If you are accepting the article at "face value" then why change that part? I thought he meant it as he wrote it, and I say this because in general the article is a mess. There are other really silly/strange comments: - as pointed out by amacpher, the US performance in the 1998 WC was anything but "great" - Toronto is a Northern Irish stronghold? (I don't think I've ever met anyone from Northern Ireland) - how can we host any men's internationals in Toronto? - somehow I find it hard to believe that the Americans were "particularly keen" on a Northern Irish visit (Ireland I can see, but Northern Ireland? the team that hasn't scored in a dozen games?) Its obvious the guy hasn't got his full facts straight (which is why I said I would be taking it at face value), but since he is aware that Canada is experiencing problems with respect to internationals, it suggests there might be a kernel or two of truth to this story - unless that is common knowledge in Northern Ireland for some reason. And as the article mentions a possible match in Canada, I don't think its a leap of faith to think he was referring to home internationals. I wouldn't blame the guy for suggesting that Toronto would be a good city for Northern Ireland to play in, since if somebody told him that there are no suitable soccer venues in Canada's largest city, he probably wouldn't believe it - heck, I live in this city and I still can't believe it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy_Yank Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 "The USA team, thanks to great performances in the last two World Cup competitions, has climbed into the Top 20 of the FIFA rankings - while Northern Ireland has continued to slip into obscurity." I knew 1998 was just a bad dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.