IRISH SOCCER DISPUTE STILL GOES ON

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6864, 21 May 1932, Page 11

IRISH SOCCER DISPUTE STILL GOES ON

Question Of Seat On The International Board Is Bar To Peace The question of a seat on the International Football Board for the Free State Football Association is the obstacle toward a settlement of the football dispute in Ireland. This dispute, which has been waged between North and South for almost 11 years, was expected to yield a solution recentlv, when for over five hours the contending parties discussed this request bv the Free State F.A. delegates for a seat on the International Board (writes an Irish correspondent of . the “Athletic News”). The Irish F.A. could not guarantee such a seat. . It is a.mattcr outside their jurisdiction to detennine. It is a question that only the International Board can decide. Up to this breakdown, the Irish F.A. had agreed to give the Free State an equal number to form an International Committee for the purpose of selecting teams for alternative internationals, and to pool receipts from international matches. But the Free State desired representation on the International Committee. Is- it any wonder one doubts whether there will ever be peace in Irish football? , Can the Free State F.A. have a seat on the International Board, having regard to the fact that the Free State has Dominion status? If it gets a seat on this board, what about the claims of Canada, Australia, and America, not to mention Germany, France. Italy, and Spain? So much for the Irish F.A. point of view. Here is the position as seen through Free State spectacles, and explained by another correspondent, who says that the Free State F.A. is not likely to budge an inch on the point of representation on the International Board, for it considers that, equal representation is not an unfair demand when it is considered that the Free State F.A. wields control in 32 counties, whereas the Irish F.A. rules only in six.

it is a pity that there should be disagreement on this matter, for it is the only point which stands in the way of Irish unity.