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Preparing for possible debut in England after changing international allegiance for Irish football, Declan Rice apologized for previous expressions of online support to the IRA.
The Twitter feeds referring to "Up the RA" – a short form of the Republican Irish Army – have resurfaced in the Irish media before being deleted by young Rice, 20 years old.
Rice played for an Irish national youth team during her IRA badignments in 2015, in one case responding to a teammate adding, "Wait for us to draw England".
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The West Ham player was cleared by FIFA earlier this month to change his international affiliation with England, his home country, after playing three friendlies for Ireland.
In response to the angry escalation, the West Ham player admitted that his comments were "poorly expressed" while distancing himself from the IRA.
"I now admit that my attempt to show support to my teammates at the time could be interpreted negatively," Rice said on Instagram.
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Declan Rice could make his debut for England against the Czech Republic on Saturday morning (NZT).
"Although my naive words are not meant to be a political opinion and do not represent who I am, I sincerely apologize for any offense committed."
The main faction of IRA, the interim IRA, killed nearly 1,800 people during an unsuccessful campaign conducted between 1970 and 1997 to force Northern Ireland to leave the country. United Kingdom. Most activists have renounced violence, but some IRA dissidents sometimes engage in bombings or shootings.
The English Football Federation announced that she would write to Rice "to remind her of her responsibilities".
England coach Gareth Southgate has not said whether Rice will make his debut on Friday (NZT Saturday).
Rice's "Up the RA" tweets appeared just before Southgate met the media at Wembley Stadium, where England began its qualifying campaign for the European Championship against the Czech Republic on Friday (Saturday). NZT).
@ _DECCERS10 / INSTAGRAM
Declan Rice's Instagram post apologizes for his comments on the IRA.
"It was at the age of 15 or 16 when he was engaged in a social conversation with friends," said Southgate, who had not spoken to Rice about these publications.
"I think everyone at this age, in this kind of situation, has probably said things, discussed, written things that might not look like what we would like [them to] several years later.
"So, I do not think he can say or do more than what he said at the moment."
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Declan Rice, a young West Ham United, said his comments on the IRA were "poorly expressed".
The spectrum of IRA has been ubiquitous in English games for years, supporters chanting "No surrender to the IRA" in national and international stadiums.
The FA has struggled to prevent fans from inserting "No Surrender" between the lyrics of the national anthem when "God Save the Queen" is played before matches against England.
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