The FIFA Two refers to Colin Healy and

Gareth Farrelly Gareth Farrelly (born 28 August 1975) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder notably in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Everton. He also played in the Football League ...

, two Irish international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

players who were prevented from playing for

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

as they had already played for two other clubs in the 2006-07 period. Some commentators noted a potential conflict between FIFA's ruling and European Union regulations prohibiting restrictions on a citizen’s right to work. After lobbying from Ireland's football governing body, the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

, FIFA subsequently changed its transfer regulations in January 2008.

Background

In April 2007,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

informed Cork City that they would not allow two players, Irish internationals Colin Healy and

, to play for the club.

had ruled that, as the players had already played for two other clubs in the previous 12 months, neither player could play until the "summer transfer window" in July 2007. In the related FIFA regulation, the Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players, Chapter III: Registration of Players, Article 5.3, it stated that: As of June 2007, Healy and Farrelly had not yet debuted for Cork City due to the FIFA ruling, and had to wait until July 2007 to become eligible to play. While the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

upheld the initial FIFA ruling, FIFA amended its transfer regulations in January 2008 to include an exception for leagues with overlapping seasons. In addressing the issue, FIFA added the following language to Article 5.3:

Related precedents

The Finnish Football Association, an association that also has its season within a calendar year, similar Ireland, permits any player who signs for a Finnish club, and in the same situation as Colin Healy or Gareth Farrelly, to play in official matches in Finland. According to a 2007 ESPN article, the Finnish FA allowed players in similar situations to Healy and Farrelly to play, a move the article characterized as disregarding FIFA’s rule. A number of sources compared the situation, with Healy and Farrelly, to the case of

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

, an Argentine international who joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

after playing with West Ham within the same year. Several players with other

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

sides were also impacted by Article 5.3, but were subsequently cleared to play. One of these players was Shaun Holmes who, after an appeal, was given leave to play for

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

in 2007.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url = http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1812&Itemid=9 , title = FAI article about the problem ("FAI makes application to FIFA in search of clearance for tied players") dated March 2007 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110728030503/http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1812&Itemid=9 , archivedate = 28 July 2011 2007 in Republic of Ireland association football FIFA controversies Association football transfers History of association football Football Association of Ireland it:Calciomercato nl:Transfer