Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern is to raise the issue of allowing Northern Ireland international football players to carry Irish passports at a meeting of the British Irish Council in London today.
Fifa has said that Northern Ireland players must have a British passports to show their eligibility for the North's international team.
In a letter to the Irish Football Association, Fifa insisted its officials should not be expected to determine whether a player fulfilled eligibility requirements on the basis of the Belfast Agreement.
"The fact that a player holds an Irish Republic passport does not demonstrate conclusively that he or she is eligible to play for Northern Ireland," the letter to IFA chief executive Howard Wells read.
Mr Ahern yesterday described Fifa's position on the passports as ridiculous and said he would seek support from Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain in lobbying Fifa.
Mr Ahern said sport should be about bringing people together, not dividing them.
"Sport has been a great driver of community reconciliation in Northern Ireland and a Fifa decision that puts a barrier between communities cannot be allowed to persist," he said.
"It is remarkable that Fifa question - by their apparent actions on the passport issue - our goal of an inclusive society where everyone is assured of respect for his or her identity, be they Irish or British."
Mr Ahern said the Government gave a solemn commitment in the 1998 Belfast Agreement to actively promote and develop reconciliation, respect and mutual understanding between the different traditions throughout Ireland. The British government made the same pledge.