Former Hibernian star Tam McManus believes there is more than meets the eye after Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty was blocked from playing against Hamilton at the the weekend, with the Northern Ireland FA invoking FIFA’s five-day rule.
Lafferty decided to withdraw from the Northern Ireland squad that faced Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the UEFA Nations League during the international break, citing an Achilles problem.
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill had expressed his disappointment with the striker’s decision to make himself unavailable during the international break.
The Irish FA decided to invoke FIFA’s five-day rule, which states that any player who decides to make himself unavailable citing an injury can also be blocked from representing his club for up to five days after the international break.
The association released an official statement that conveyed the fact that they have already contacted Rangers regarding their decision to invoke the rule and that the player will be blocked from playing on Sunday.
"As the player did not comply with the call up, the player is in breach and as a result, the Association is invoking the Fifa regulation (Fifa Regulations for the status and transfer of players, Annexe 1, Section 5)”, the statement read.
The news is a blow for Rangers, but McManus thinks that the issue runs deeper than Lafferty simply making himself unavailable over the last week.
He took to Twitter and wrote: "Must have really p**sed Michael O'Neill off for N.I to invoke this rule.
"Their talisman too.
"More to this than meets the eye IMO."
Lafferty, who made his debut for Northern Ireland in 2006, has earned 68 caps for his country so far, while also scoring 20 goals during that time.
