Cahill's Dream Of Playing For Socceroos A Step Clo

Millwall midfielder Tim Cahill has moved a major step closer to his long-held dream of representing Australia following FIFA's decision to confirm his availability for international selection for the Socceroos.

Millwall midfielder Tim Cahill has moved a major step closer to his long-held dream of representing Australia following FIFA's decision to confirm his availability for international selection for the Socceroos.

Tim Cahill (pictured right), who represented Samoa at youth level and was therefore deemed ineligible to represent Australia under previous FIFA rules, was cleared by the FIFA Players' Status Committee to be allowed to represent Australia from now on, following a submission sent to FIFA by the Australian Soccer Association (ASA) on behalf of Tim Cahill.

The FIFA Players' Status Committee confirmed that Tim Cahill fulfilled the objective of prerequisites as provided in Article 15, paragraph 3(a) of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes and in particular, that he never represented Samoa at 'A' international level and he was holding both nationalities prior to his first appearance in an international match in an official competition with Samoa at youth level.

The decision was an overdue welcome relief to Tim and his family, who have been championing this request far and wide for change for approximately 9 years.   Tim played for Samoa as a 14 year old in an international youth tournament, thereby making him ineligible for Australia under the then FIFA Regulations.

However in a FIFA ruling amendment last year, FIFA stated that under the terms of this new provision and up to a player's 21st birthday, a player who has represented an Association team in one or more matches of an official competition may henceforth request to change the Association for which he is eligible, provided that he fulfils the following criteria: - he has not played at “A” international level for the Association for which he is eligible at the time he submitted the request; - he had dual nationality (or more than two nationalities), at the time of his first appearance in an international match in an official competition of any category.

Any player who fulfilled the above criteria then could only once request to change the Association for which he is eligible. Changing Associations is not permitted during the preliminary competition of a FIFA competition, continental championship or the Olympic Tournaments if a player has already been fielded in a match of one of these competitions.   Furthermore, FIFA has also introduced a transitional period, which shall only apply throughout 2004, to allow players over the age of 21 to benefit from the above provision, provided that they fulfil the relevant criteria.

Tim Cahill travelled to England as a 16 year old to achieve his dreams of being a professional footballer, making his debut for Millwall against Bournemouth on 2 May 1998.   Tim has recently been in scintillating form for Millwall this season, having scored 6 goals in 32 matches across League, FA Cup and League Cup appearances during 2003/04.   Millwall, who also has Socceroo defender Kevin Muscat in their line-up, are in the FA Cup quarter-finals and face a tantalising tie against Tranmere Rovers for a very sought after semi-final spot.

Tim Cahill was also a guest of coach Frank Farina and the Socceroo squad when Australia played the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in August of last year.

ASA would like to acknowledge the assistance and support given by the Samoa Football Federation on this matter, in addition to the assistance and dedication shown by Tim Cahill, his family and his soccer representatives over the years in achieving this goal.   Mr Tim Cahill, senior, also acknowledged the support of the media in raising awareness on the plight of his son, highlighting the work of Michael Cockerill and Stuart Jones in particular.