The Canadian Soccer Association has filed a protest with FIFA that claims the U.S. used an ineligible player in its 3-0 win over Canada in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 16.
The player in question is David Wagner, who plays for Schalke in the German Bundesliga and who played the entire 90 minutes for the U.S. in the qualifying win over Canada.
The CSA claims that Wagner is ineligible because he made several appearances for West Germany’s U-18 team in World Youth Cup qualifying matches.
FIFA rules stipulate that once a player competes for a country in an official, FIFA-sanctioned match at any level, he is ineligible to play for another country. This scenario applies to West Ham United defender Steve Potts, who was born in Boston, but is ineligible to play for the U.S. because he played in FIFA-sanctioned youth matches for an English youth national team.
Wagner was born in Germany to a German woman and an American student. The family moved to Los Angeles for several years before Wagner’s parents separated and he returned to Germany with his mother. He was discovered by his Schalke teammate, U.S. national team star Thomas Dooley.