The Northern Irish FA are set to call in a little used FIFA rule against Kyle Lafferty.
The Sevco striker was a late call off for the matches against Austria and Bosnia after making a midnight phone call to Michael O’Neill to report an Achilles problem.
In order to protect international football FIFA allows national associations to ban players from club matches within five days of missing an international.
Due to the goodwill that international sides rely on the rule is rarely enforced but according to The Sun and the Daily Record the Irish Football Association were in contact with Sevco yesterday about the matter.
Although Northern Ireland played on Monday the Nations League programme was completed on Tuesday which means that the five day rule extends to Sunday when Sevco face Hamilton.
Lafferty has Michael O’Neill to thank for sticking by him as his club career turned into a car crash with Norwich desperate to get rid of the striker.
Last season he moved to Hearts before switching to Sevco in August in a deal believed to be close to £325,500, while at the Edinburgh side Lafferty revealed that he had a major gambling problem but recently claimed he had completed 12 months without placing a bet.
