The Football Association of Ireland has started looking into bringing in a code of conduct for Republic of Ireland internationals that use Twitter.

The move comes after West Bromwich Albion striker Shane Long appeared to refer to caretaker manager Noel King as a "cowboy" on the social media site when he was left out of the team to face Germany and Kazakhstan in the last week.

Wigan Athletic winger James McClean found himself in trouble earlier in the campaign after sending an insulting tweet about then-boss Giovanni Trapattoni for leaving him out of the opening match of the qualifying campaign.

The FAI wants to introduce a set of rules preventing players from posting outbursts on Twitter, similar to those in operation at clubs.

Written by
Sian Cowper