I think you'll find me there too. After all, you chaps couldn't be expected to explain a matter of such complexity without me having given ye a helping hand!Originally Posted by bongyhead
Well, to be fair, he is just repeating what T78 and I explained previously*
* Too lazy to find the thread. It's out there somewhere...
The "player development" line was tried in Bosman and rejected.
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
It's a restriction interfering with the free movement of workers in the EU. Gone.
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
Aw, diddums. Are we sulking again?
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
Aaaanyhow - am I now allowed a small, "Told you so" directed at the IRFU?
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
The crux of it in practical terms though is that while soccer clubs have a real interest in not having any restriction on foreign nationals and so they are happy to sign any player they want, the Irish provinces are shackled by IRFU policy and couldn't openly demand the same. In effect if a player (such as Hines say) brought a case, the Ladys would deny they were letting him go because he he was NIQ. If the courts refused to accept that, the IRFU only has to remove any explicit edict and make the policy tacit since the provinces wouldn't defy it.
well looka
But thats the thing mrs mc. It was tacit, everyone knew the rules but as long as it wasn't official policy it was fine. But once it became official policy the IRFU have shot themselves in the foot.
...in what way will you feel more Irish if you force me to give up my feeling of being British? - David Ervine
They can go back to making it tacit. Hard to see the provinces defying the IRFU at this point.
well looka
http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/3...rfu+NIQ+policyWell, to be fair, he is just repeating what T78 and I explained previously*
* Too lazy to find the thread. It's out there somewhere...
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
That's the one! See post #151.
Daycent of the latecomers to open a new thread and throw in their ha'pennyworth, but me and the boy from Balla sorted this one out, way back in December.
Bongyhead was talking about a different thread, it transpires: http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/3...post-163/page4
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugb...e-3158447.html
sorry if this is repetitive..
I'm looking forward to ireland togging out years from now with
hardly a paddy a among them. Happy days.
I wonder is there some way we can draft them into our
youths teams aswell.
Myself and EO were discussing this on another thread. What about central contracting then? Employed by the IRFU to play for Ireland. Or the EPS in England where the RFU pays part of the players salary(i think)? Or The England 7's players who are directly employed to play for England?
Not tested, I suppose. But there was a ruling regarding Dutch cyclists, I think, who wanted to represent another national side and had a run at claiming restraint of movement. The court ruled that international sport was exempt, and I'm fairly sure they did so on the basis that it's not an economic activity. It's all a bit more technical than I'd be able for, frankly.
"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men" Edward R Murrow
"Little by little, we have been brought into the present condition in which we are able neither to tolerate the evils from which we suffer, nor the remedies we need to cure them." - Livy
Bosman itself recognises that international sport is different and is nationality-based, but professional sport below that level is subject to free movement.
Vorsprung durch Pfennig.
... but does any of this change the position that the IRFU isn't obliged to renew anyone's contract?
They were just dumb enough to come out and give reasons why they wouldn't.
I don't see that it's relevant whether they're obliged or not. The point is that the guidelines that they've issued to the provinces are illegal, at least potentially, and that a player (unlikely) or an agent (less unlikely) that was minded to challenge would be able to cause them a good deal of trouble.
Given that they had complete discretion through the mysterious workings of the PAG, they're left hoping that no one upsets the applecart.
"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men" Edward R Murrow
"Little by little, we have been brought into the present condition in which we are able neither to tolerate the evils from which we suffer, nor the remedies we need to cure them." - Livy
OK, so all the IRFU needs to do is say they have changed their policy and will make decisions on contracts case-by-case based upon some vague criteria like balancing the need for experience and player development that no one will really understand or be able to object to. The PAG, or whatever it is called now, go back to decisions behind closed doors.
Meanwhile over in England, the RFU link payments to the AP teams based upon the number of EQ players in their squad. If it is illegal to say you wont give a contract to a player who isn't qualified for a particular country, I wonder if it is illegal to have a financial incentive to not give a contract to a player who isn't qualified for a particular country.
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