Rangers fans on Twitter react to the IFA’s action on Lafferty

It’s not very often that you see this type of thing happen, but Michael O’Neil has activated a FIFA rule to block Kyle Lafferty from playing for his club after the striker phoned him to tell him he wouldn’t be travelling to play for his country. This report in The Daily Record explains the story, but it’s extremely rare that a player declines an international call-up and then gets banned for it.

EXCLUSIVE: Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty row escalates as Irish FA invoke FIFA rule to block him playing against Hamilton | @StevenBeacom5 https://t.co/Otjq5ZVmqq pic.twitter.com/r3O4P6pkpv

— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) October 16, 2018

Kyle Lafferty obviously doesn’t enjoy playing football for his native Northern Ireland and after his country have invoked this rule to stop him playing for Rangers on Sunday, it looks like the striker’s only option could be to retire from international football. Lafferty’s antics saw him phone O’Neil to let him know he wouldn’t be travelling to face either Austria or Bosnia and Herzegovina in their UEFA Nations league double-header.

With the Northern Irish side already short on frontmen, you can see why The Northern Ireland manager was fuming with the situation and for him to activate a FIFA rule to prevent the striker from playing for Rangers shows exactly how strongly he feels about this. The rarely heard of FIFA rule states that if requested, a player cannot feature for his club until five days after an international break, thereby ruling Lafferty out of Sunday’s trip to face Hamilton.

You can read The Gers’ verdict on the Lafferty situation here: