Whilst I'm not sure whether to beleive the person who told me it would sadly seem to stack up (i) Following Bird's situation it seems that French Visas are easier to come by (ii) The French Union clubs seem to be chucking money around at the mo.

Fair point...but upto now we had never heard of players been refused for the reason they alledgedly have

No but others are all the time

Yes I know I have read most of your informative posts on immagration

With the Bird situation adding further fuel to the enourmous can of worms...I was just speculating on how the Consulate could resolve the whole issue without losing face. I may be way off the mark..who knows

It kind of makes a mockery of the whole logic behind turning people down for work visa's in the UK if they can simply get one in a less strict EU company and then have freedom to travel and work.

Good question. I suspect that, club loyalties aside, Crocker has the best chance of overturning his refusal and the High Commission will. if pressed, say that the new evidence presented outweighed the previous refusal so they were happy to issue the visa. The general toughening up will still be applied and spread across the world to other countries.

PS Love the mixed metaphor of adding fuel to a can of worms!

You never do it as a kid?

You can't beat mixed metaphors

Which is why I suspect that the UKBA will try and keep Bird out of the country if they possibly can.

Is it not a perfect opportunity for our country to try and grow some balls and influence Europe instead of them always telling us what to do? What exactly do our MEPs do anyway?

It's like the 'Avian Flu' thing.

How do you keep Bird from getting in the country,
We've never stopped French Birds from entering though.

Juliette Binoche can come here any time she likes