Deklan Wynne has been cleared to play football again for New Zealand.
The 20-year-old was born in South Africa and had his eligibility questioned by Vanuatu during the Oceania Olympic Qualifying.
Wynne was ruled ineligible by the Oceania Football Confederation, and the result was reversed to a 3-0 Vanuatu win, ending New Zealand's hopes of heading to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
New Zealand Football have since confirmed his clearance by the FIFA Players' status committee in a recently-released statement.
"We are pleased this situation has finally been resolved and that Deklan is now free to represent New Zealand. We wish him well as he returns to his club to continue his football career," says NZ Football CEO Andy Martin.
Wynne was one of 18 players New Zealand Football sought eligibility exemptions for with FIFA, and after a lot of work behind the scenes, the defender has been cleared.
Sources claim it had to be proven that Wynne didn't move to New Zealand for football reasons, with a 250 page dossier of background information needed to get the exemption across the line.
Wynne left New Zealand soon after last year's incident, signing with Canadian side Whitecaps FC in Vancouver.
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