Man Utd legend Neville: Rice should NOT be playing for England

Football
5 Sep 2019 • 6:21 PM MYT
Tribal Football
Tribal Football

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Gary Neville says Declan Rice shouldn't be allowed to play for England after representing the Republic of Ireland.

The West Ham United midfielder switched international allegiances last year after he appeared for Ireland in three friendlies.

Speaking at the launch of the Cadbury Premier League Partnership in Dublin, Neville said: "I've heard he's a really good lad, I just think that ultimately a player should not be allowed to play for his country's senior team and then switch.

"It doesn't feel right to me. It's a really strange thing to see and ultimately Fifa and Uefa need to stop it.

"There have been players who've asked for interviews and meetings with the national team manager. Why?

"Why is that influencing your decision, do you want some level of guarantee about play

"I don't like the idea of a player playing for England or Ireland Under- 16s, 17s, 18s, 19s, 21s and all of a sudden switching to play for a different country. It just doesn't feel right.

"Country is about an emotion, it's about a feeling and that might be England, it might be Ireland, it might be Wales, whatever country you play for I've no problem with the process of players picking who they want to play for.

"I've issue with this sort of beauty parade to determine which country they play for. It should be taken out of the players' hands."