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Australian Dual Nationals 🇦🇺🏳️

@Keeper66
Your take on this is interesting.

FIFA does not define what non-official competition is, nor do they refer to or define friendlies. All games that aren't official competition are non-official competition, so non-official games include friendlies.

Do you have a link or other source reference for this opinion? It seems to be contrary to Article 5, Para 20 - where FIFA does seem to me to be drawing a distinction between Friendlies and other competitive matches that are not regarded as "official competition".

James Kitching lurks in this Forum - hopefully he reads all this stuff and maybe he could perhaps clarify the exact status of Friendlies in regard to being a Competition.
 
Bruce Ramsay said:
@Keeper66
Your take on this is interesting.

FIFA does not define what non-official competition is, nor do they refer to or define friendlies. All games that aren't official competition are non-official competition, so non-official games include friendlies.

Do you have a link or other source reference for this opinion? It seems to be contrary to Article 5, Para 20 - where FIFA does seem to me to be drawing a distinction between Friendlies and other competitive matches that are not regarded as "official competition".

James Kitching lurks in this Forum - hopefully he reads all this stuff and maybe he could perhaps clarify the exact status of Friendlies in regard to being a Competition.
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It’s sort of alluded to in the guidelines. This is what they define as official competition, and types of football (Article 20, as you noted)

IMG_5460.jpeg

Later in, it also uses Giannou representing Greece in a Friendly, as a no-no, because he was still “tied” to Australia (although I believe was eligible to change if he wanted to)

IMG_5461.jpeg

The “change back” exception specifically says that players are tied to the new nation if they play in official or non-official matches
IMG_5462.jpeg
 
Bruce Ramsay said:
@Keeper66
Your take on this is interesting.

FIFA does not define what non-official competition is, nor do they refer to or define friendlies. All games that aren't official competition are non-official competition, so non-official games include friendlies.

Do you have a link or other source reference for this opinion? It seems to be contrary to Article 5, Para 20 - where FIFA does seem to me to be drawing a distinction between Friendlies and other competitive matches that are not regarded as "official competition".

James Kitching lurks in this Forum - hopefully he reads all this stuff and maybe he could perhaps clarify the exact status of Friendlies in regard to being a Competition.
Click to expand...
This was James talking about the possibility of Volpato or Arena requesting a one-time switch to Australia in the link NicCarBel gave above.

For Volpato and Arena, very short answer to your Q is YES:
  • because both have represented Italy in an official competition, they are tied to FIGC unless they meet 1 of the 5 exceptions
  • if they do meet an exception and request to make a change of association to FA, they are tied to FA as soon as they are fielded by FA in any match.
  • if they are never fielded by FA in any match, there is always the possibility that they can request a reversal of the FIFA decision to change association from FIGC to FA.
When he says "any match", I take it that includes friendlies.

Have you got a link to Art 5 Para 20, I haven't read it yet. Do you have a link to it, finding FIFA documentation can be a pain.

PS. Good to see the Eastern Suburbs Football Club logo on here. I played a few seasons there in the mid-80's.
 
Keeper66 said:
This was James talking about the possibility of Volpato or Arena requesting a one-time switch to Australia in the link NicCarBel gave above.

For Volpato and Arena, very short answer to your Q is YES:
  • because both have represented Italy in an official competition, they are tied to FIGC unless they meet 1 of the 5 exceptions
  • if they do meet an exception and request to make a change of association to FA, they are tied to FA as soon as they are fielded by FA in any match.
  • if they are never fielded by FA in any match, there is always the possibility that they can request a reversal of the FIFA decision to change association from FIGC to FA.
When he says "any match", I take it that includes friendlies.

Have you got a link to Art 5 Para 20, I haven't read it yet. Do you have a link to it, finding FIFA documentation can be a pain.

PS. Good to see the Eastern Suburbs Football Club logo on here. I played a few seasons there in the mid-80's.
Click to expand...
James says "any match". I'm not sure if that's what he really meant (a Friendly would obviously qualify as an "any match") or whether he meant any match "in any (official or unofficial) competition. Which is the wording used by FIFA.

So really, it boils down to whether or not a Friendly is a "competition". To me, it is not, but whether or not that is the FIFA ruling, I simply don't know.

Eastern Suburbs (as it is now called) was my local boyhood club growing up at Coorparoo. They weren't called Eastern Suburbs then, of course, but I still retain an interest in their fortunes and those of Holland Park Hawks, who now represent the area I spent many years living in.
 
Bruce Ramsay said:
James says "any match". I'm not sure if that's what he really meant (a Friendly would obviously qualify as an "any match") or whether he meant any match "in any (official or unofficial) competition. Which is the wording used by FIFA.

So really, it boils down to whether or not a Friendly is a "competition". To me, it is not, but whether or not that is the FIFA ruling, I simply don't know.
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Considering Greece were sanctioned for playing Giannou in a friendly (referenced in the commentary guidelines) before having changed his association to Greece, I gather FIFA means any match to include friendlies
 
Keeper66 said:
This was James talking about the possibility of Volpato or Arena requesting a one-time switch to Australia in the link NicCarBel gave above.

For Volpato and Arena, very short answer to your Q is YES:
  • because both have represented Italy in an official competition, they are tied to FIGC unless they meet 1 of the 5 exceptions
  • if they do meet an exception and request to make a change of association to FA, they are tied to FA as soon as they are fielded by FA in any match.
  • if they are never fielded by FA in any match, there is always the possibility that they can request a reversal of the FIFA decision to change association from FIGC to FA.
When he says "any match", I take it that includes friendlies.

Have you got a link to Art 5 Para 20, I haven't read it yet. Do you have a link to it, finding FIFA documentation can be a pain.

PS. Good to see the Eastern Suburbs Football Club logo on here. I played a few seasons there in the mid-80's.
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This is a screenshot of Article 5 Para 3 20 (sorry, I left out the 3 when referring to it earlier).

It's in that FIFA document that you posted the link to
 

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NicCarBel said:
Considering Greece were sanctioned for playing Giannou in a friendly (referenced in the commentary guidelines) before having changed his association to Greece, I gather FIFA means any match to include friendlies
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I would imagine they were sanctioned for playing him - Friendly or not - when he did not yet hold the sporting nationality of Greece.
 
Remember Ikon played for Australia before making a senior club debut. Ange blooded him while Holger was worried Brett McGrath was going to play cricket for Italy so he got that sorted too. Worked out well...
 
JS96 said:
Pretty sure Overy is secured. Next WC cycle we must use the preliminaries to give late bench cameos for our high potential players.
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He's tied to Australia but still has the potential ability to request a Change of Association. So not quite "secured", if that wording means "can't play for another nationality".
 
Anyone aware of Harrison Ashby at Bradford City in League 1 and his links to Australia? Don't recall his name mentioned on these forums. Google AI tells me his father is Australian born.
 
verrelli said:
Anyone aware of Harrison Ashby at Bradford City in League 1 and his links to Australia? Don't recall his name mentioned on these forums. Google AI tells me his father is Australian born.
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Never heard of him.
 
verrelli said:
Anyone aware of Harrison Ashby at Bradford City in League 1 and his links to Australia? Don't recall his name mentioned on these forums. Google AI tells me his father is Australian born.
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According to Transfermarkt he is dual Scotland and England nationality. Also according to Transfermarkt, his father is English, born in London.

He's never appeared in any of the lists of O/S Aussies compiled by Damian Davies.

Maybe another example of reasons not to accept AI as gospel, without doing further checks.
 
verrelli said:
Anyone aware of Harrison Ashby at Bradford City in League 1 and his links to Australia? Don't recall his name mentioned on these forums. Google AI tells me his father is Australian born.
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Ha really? had him on loan in about 100 career modes. The ever reliable FIFA free agent. Perhaps Gethin Jones 2.0 but I'm glad he's got a more stable career now.
 
JS96 said:
Arnold has some doing here too. Segecic and Triantis are special dual national cases. It was obvious in March 2023 that these two had immense potential.

I know we had so many mature regulars but they should've been expedited for the Bangladesh game in November 2023. Duke, Borrello and Maclaren scored 6 of the 7 goals. That's not long term thinking. It's Bangladesh at home for god's sake.

What happened under Popovic was woeful favouritism and baffling unwarranted selections.

-Starting Brattan Japan away.
-Playing Teague more than Triantis. Teague did well but why didn't we cap Triantis in the China window?
- The coddling of Okon.
- Ignoring Balard then being shown up by him, Toure and Irankunda against NZ.
- Matthews did well but throwing him in Bahrain away was a risk.
- Bringing in an ineffective Caceres out of the blue.
- Giving Hrustic too many lifelines.
-Beach deserved a go, Al Hassan and D'Agostino in recent windows just shouldn't be happening.
- Ignoring Robertson and Toure risking a switch.

He got he introduction of Velupillay right. The persistence with Boyle and Borrello hasn't worked. I can't remember, did he overlook Irankunda and it got some headlines going?

The youngest I can remember with Ange was McGree in 2017 for the UAE home game. Ange selected players he believed in at the time but got a lot of new blood in after the 2014 world cup.
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Totally agree with Brattan, Caceres and Okon comments as well as Robertson and Toure. But Segacic is a forward and Triantis is a defensive mid-fielder. In my books, Robertson and Triantis should have been called up instead of the aforementioned three. However, None of those players play in the same position as Segacic.
 
Bruce Ramsay said:
According to Transfermarkt he is dual Scotland and England nationality. Also according to Transfermarkt, his father is English, born in London.

He's never appeared in any of the lists of O/S Aussies compiled by Damian Davies.

Maybe another example of reasons not to accept AI as gospel, without doing further checks.
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You may well be right. I have quizzed Google further and this is the response:

While
Barry Ashby
was born in Park Royal, London and is of English citizenship, Harrison Ashby’s eligibility for the Socceroos is tied to his father's specific heritage. Under FIFA eligibility rules, a player can represent a national team if they, their biological parents, or their grandparents were born on the territory of the relevant association.
Harrison Ashby's Multi-National Eligibility
  • Australia (Socceroos): Eligible through his father, Barry Ashby, whose own heritage allows Harrison to claim Australian citizenship by descent.
  • Scotland: Qualifies through his maternal grandparents. He has already represented Scotland at the U17, U19, and U21 levels.
  • England: Eligible as his birthplace (Milton Keynes) and his father's birthplace (London).
    Wikipedia +5
International Status (March 2026)
Harrison Ashby remains uncapped at the senior level, meaning he has not yet been "cap-tied" to any nation. His appearances for Scotland have all been in youth-level competitions, leaving the door open for a potential switch to Australia if the Socceroos make a formal approach and he accepts.
Wikipedia
Recent Performance Summary
He is currently on loan at Bradford City from Newcastle United for the remainder of the 2025–26 season.
Transfermarkt
[th]
Detail​
[/th][th]
Information​
[/th]​
[td]Current Club[/td][td]Bradford City (Loan)[/td] [td]Parent Club[/td][td]Newcastle United[/td] [td]Position[/td][td]Right-Back[/td] [td]Senior Caps[/td][td]0 (Eligible for AUS, SCO, ENG)[/td]
Would you like to see the current 2026 World Cup Qualification schedule for the Socceroos to see when they play next?
 
Harrison Ashby qualifies for Australia because his father, Barry Ashby, was born in Park Royal, London, but reportedly holds Australian citizenship. Under FIFA Eligibility Rules, specifically Article 7, a player is eligible to represent a national association if they fulfill one of the following criteria:
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
+1
The player was born on the territory of the relevant association.
Their biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant association.
Their grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant association.
The player has lived on the territory of the relevant association for at least five years.
While Barry Ashby was born in England, Harrison qualifies because his father is an Australian citizen by descent, which allowed Harrison to also acquire Australian citizenship. This "citizenship by descent" makes him eligible for the Socceroos despite being born in Milton Keynes and representing Scotland at the youth level.
Harrison Ashby's International Eligibility Summary
Australia: Eligible via his father's Australian citizenship.
Scotland: Eligible via his maternal grandparents; he has represented them at U17, U19, and U21 levels.
England: Eligible by birth in Milton Keynes.
As of March 2026, Harrison remains uncapped at the senior level, meaning he can still choose to represent Australia in competitive matches.
BBC
BBC
Would you like to see a list of other dual-national players currently being monitored by the Socceroos for the 2026 World Cup?




Barry Ashby - Player profile - Transfermarkt

Transfermarkt

Harrison Ashby - Men | NUFC - Newcastle United

Newcastle United
 
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