Jamie Carragher's son must follow five strict rules with national team after switching international allegiance

James Carragher, the son of former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, will need to follow a number of strict rules after switching International allegiance from England to Malta.

The 22-year-old centre-back, who plays his club football for League One side Wigan Athletic, was recently granted Maltese citizenship through his family roots.

Jamie's grandfather, Paul Vassallo, was Maltese and originally came from Qormi – a city on the Mediterranean island – before marrying an English woman and relocating to Bootle in Liverpool.

After being granted citizenship, James was recently called up to play for Malta ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Finland and Poland.

So what rules must he follow in the coming weeks and months? As per the 'Good Behaviour and Discipline' section in the rules and regulations document on the Malta FA's website, Carragher must do the following:

(i) Every player forming part of a national squad or selection must at all times behave in the best possible manner and must set an example to other players and shall refrain from doing anything and from omitting to do anything which may prejudice the discipline of his team.

(ii) Every such player shall refrain from promoting or take part in any agreement which may damage the Game and/or individual members of his team or selection, and/or members of the technical staff and/or officials of the Association and/or the Malta Football Association.

Furthermore, it shall be the duty of every such player to report to the Technical Director or the Coach or the Team Manager or the General Secretary of the Association in the case that any such agreement or attempt to make any such agreement comes to his knowledge and this immediately such an agreement or attempted agreement comes to his knowledge.

(iii) Every such player shall not in any place or in any manner criticize or raise any objections to any training methods, systems of play, team formations or positionings in a team except by way of constructive counsel to the coach in the manner acceptable to the coach.

(iv) Every such player shall at all times show due respect towards the other players of his team, the members of the technical staff, the officials of the Association, the other members of the Council of the Association and all the members in an official delegation of the Association accompanying the team.

In particular, every such player shall refrain from criticizing in any place and in any manner any of the persons above mentioned or the Malta Football Association or any of its bodies.

James Carragher on his Malta debut. Image credit: Getty

Jamie Carragher watches on from the stands in Malta. Image credit: Getty

(v) Furthermore, every such player must act in accordance with the rules found in any Code of Discipline and/or Code of Ethics for national team/s players which may be in force at the time.

On Friday night, James started for Malta in their World Cup qualifying clash against Finland, although Emilio De Leo's side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat.

Taking to Instagram after the final whistle, former England international Jamie Carragher reacted to his son's national team bow. "Very proud of [James] on your international debut," he said. "Didn’t deserve the loss, son.”