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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Eamon Doggett

Bayern Munich star Ryan Johansson seeking legal advice as FIFA block Ireland switch - report

Young Bayern Munich star Ryan Johansson is taking legal advice in his fight to play for the Republic of Ireland.

FIFA rejected the 18-year-old's appeal after the football body had blocked his switch from Luxembourg.

And Independent.ie report that Johansson, who grew up in Luxembourg and has a Swedish father and an Irish mother, is seeking legal advice.

Johansson played for Luxembourg at underage level, believing he always had the option of declaring for the Boys in Green.

But FIFA have stopped him making the switch to Ireland because he didn't secure Irish citizenship before playing for Luxembourg.

Given that his mother was born in England to Irish parents, the teenager has always been eligible to play for Ireland but reportedly failed to log his details on the Foreign Births Register before representing Luxembourg at underage level.

His family are seeking legal advice and believe it’s a “gross injustice” that the player is being punished for a decision made at 15 years of age.

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