THE IRISH Football Association has announced that it is to seek a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, on player eligibility in the wake of the decision by Everton’s Shane Duffy to declare for the Republic of Ireland.

The teenage defender, who has represented Northern Ireland at underage level, informed manager Nigel Worthington of his change of heart after being named in the squad for next week’s friendly international against Albania in Tirana.

Following a meeting of the Irish FA’s executive board, the association’s chief executive Patrick Nelson said: “We need to protect our players and our country. We spend lots of money on the Football for All scheme which is helping players to become better players and we think it is unfair that a player can be taken away to play for another country.”

Nelson wants a ruling that prevents players born in Northern Ireland opting to play for the FAI. He believes that his association is at a disadvantage having previously lost out on the services of Manchester United’s Darron Gibson and, more recently, Marc Wilson of Portsmouth.

“The decision we have taken is entirely about football matters. We want Fifa to uphold their own statutes as we read them and we believe we are being treated a little bit unfairly compared with other associations within Fifa,” said Nelson.

At an international board meeting in Newcastle, Co Down last year, Fifa president Sepp Blatter declared that any player born on the island of Ireland was eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland.