Controversy has recently surfaced surrounding the eligibility of Chicago Fire midfielder Chris Armas for the U.S. national team. A number of fans have asked why Armas was not listed as one of the choices for the U.S. starting lineup against Australia in our October Poll.

Armas, who attended Adelphi University, has quietly emerged as one of the top players in MLS over the past three seasons, and Fire officials have been hoping he would earn a call-up to play for the U.S.

The eligibility question centers around appearances Armas made for the Puerto Rican national team in 1993. The Fire and U.S. Soccer contend that Armas appeared only in friendly matches and is therefore eligible for the U.S. national team, and U.S. Soccer has been working with the Puerto Rican federation to pave the way for a possible U.S. call-up

However, Soccer America has learned that Armas is not eligible to play for the United States because the games he played for Puerto Rico were in the 1993 Shell Caribbean Cup, which is an official competition and not a series of friendly matches.

These circumstances are unfortunate for the U.S., which could use a hard-working player like Armas to win balls in midfield.

According to Section VIII of the Regulations Governing the Application of FIFA Statutes, Article 18, Section 2:

''If a player has been included in a national or representative team of a country for which he is eligible to play… he shall not be permitted to take part in an international match for another country. Accordingly, any player who is qualified to play for more than one national association (i.e. who has dual nationality) will be deemed to have committed himself to one association only when he plays his first international match in an official competition (at any level) for that association.''

Arnie Ramirez, the coach of Long Island University, was Puerto Rico's technical director in 1992-93. He used New York area talent to strengthen the team during qualification play for World Cup '94 and in the Caribbean championship, the Shell Cup. Ramirez says that Armas played for Puerto Rico in the 1993 Shell Cup.

''I explained to Chris that if he played for Puerto Rico,'' Ramirez told SA's Mike Woitalla. ''He would not be able to play for the United States in the future. Chris said he did not think he would be called to play for the U.S. I also explained the situation to his mother.

''And I spoke with Chris' college coach, Adelphi's Bob Montgomery, about it. He said he had gotten tired of making phone calls to [U.S. national team program coaches] and seemed to agree that they were not interested. I told Chris he had to be sure about the decision, and he said he was.''

While the Shell Cup is not a FIFA competition, it is an official CONCACAF competition because it is the Caribbean championship and also serves as qualifying for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. If Armas were to be allowed to play for the United States now, it would be akin to someone participating for Luxembourg in a European Championship qualifier, discovering he has a French grandmother and then trying to play for France, and that would never be allowed to happen.

According to FIFA Director of Communications Keith Cooper:

''The Shell Cup is an official competition and any player who has participated in such a match (even if only for one second as a substitute) is immediately committed exclusively to that country…. This may not appear consistent with the international legal status of Puerto Rico as a U.S. Territory, but it is governed by the FIFA Statutes [see article 18, section 2 above], which refer to national associations rather than sovereign territories, and in these terms, Puerto Rico is distinct from the U.S.''

Attempts to reach Armas for comment have been unsuccessful.

''I think being on the Puerto Rican national team helped Chris become a better player,'' said Ramirez. ''We played a number of good games, against Barbados, Guyana, the Cayman Islands, St. Maarten and Jamaica. We went from being ranked No. 24 in the Caribbean to No. 4.''