Scotland Under-21 coach Bill Stark: 'Adnan Januzaj for England isn't right'

By Michael Penkman, Reporter | 09 October 2013

Scotland Under-21 coach Billy Stark says that Adnan Januzaj playing for England would make "a laughing stock" of international football.

Scotland Under-21 coach Billy Stark has waded into the Adnan Januzaj debate by suggesting that it would be bad for international football if the teenager goes on to represent England.

Under FIFA's residency rule, the Belgium-born midfielder, who joined Manchester United from Anderlecht in 2011, would be eligible to play for the Three Lions in 2018.

Roy Hodgson has already declared his interest in talking to Januzaj about playing for England in the future, but Stark believes that it would make a joke of the international system.

"For me, international football could be in danger of becoming a laughing stock," BBC Sport quotes the 56-year-old as saying. "This might just be me coming from an older generation, but to me that's just not right.

"The agreement that the home nations have is that we don't use the residency rule and, instead, we have introduced the five-year schooling requirement.

"That's how we got Jordan Rhodes and we just follow those rules. The five-year schooling rule is valid because the players are brought up in that country and can feel a sense of identity with that country."

Januzaj, who also qualifies to play for Albania, Serbia and Turkey, has turned down the chance to link up with the Belgian national squad.