Ronan Hale’s International Clearance Status Remains Unresolved

Northern Ireland’s manager, Michael O’Neill, has stated that the procedure for Ronan Hale to obtain international clearance, enabling him to change his national allegiance from the Republic of Ireland, is still “a work in progress”. Consequently, the Ross County striker will not be available for selection in the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Belarus and Luxembourg, scheduled for November 15 and 18. The 26-year-old forward, previously with Cliftonville, represented the Republic at various age-group levels before making the decision to initiate the process of becoming eligible for Northern Ireland. Michael O’Neill, the Northern Ireland manager, clarified, “It’s a work in progress. It is an administration process which is in the hands of Fifa. There were one or two things around passports being produced and that has all been done.” O’Neill further elaborated, “I kind of knew when I had the conversation with Ronan, I warned him this is not something that will be done overnight. I’ve seen this take as long as six, eight, 10 months on occasions so the important thing is that we follow all the right steps, which we have.” O’Neill had initially anticipated having the forward available for some of his team’s Nations League Group C3 matches but now expresses hope that the former Irish League striker will be eligible for the commencement of the World Cup qualifying campaign in March. He added, “What determines how a player does at international level, and whether he is selected, is their club form. So Ronan just has to continue what he has been doing and that’s focus on his club game.“He was on the bench on Saturday for Ross County, He did well in the second half, so we are watching him as a player we intend to look at and come under consideration to be picked for the squad.”