Why the Indian origin players cannot represent blue tigers like Bangladesh obtained Hamza Choudhury, born in English – Firstpost

The defensive midfielder Hamza Choudhury, currently loaned to Sheffield United in Leicester City, had represented England in football for young people, making seven appearances for the U-21 team between May and June 2018, and had ambitions to represent the “ three lions ” one day.

The massive competition for the scene of the English senior team, however, means that only a handful of people can represent the crazy football nation. For Choudhury, born of a Grenadian father and a Bangladesian mother, it meant that he had to seek elsewhere to achieve his ambition to play international football with his hopes of playing for the rapid drying of England.

Having grown up in a Bangladaise house, it is not surprising that he decided to represent the country of birth of his mother. And last Tuesday, seven months after acquiring a Bangladais passport, Choudhury made its debut for the Bengal Tigers during the qualification match of the Asian Cup against India in Shillon, which ended with a tireless draw.

India was initially the favorites before the competition, the legendary Sunil Chhetri out of international retirement to try to ensure a third consecutive appearance in the Asian Cup for the Blue Tigers. However, the presence of an individual who had excelled in the Premier League with Leicester City and was part of the team that won the FA Cup 2021 put the Bangladeshis on an equal footing, if not the favorites.

The question of the All India football federation (AIFF) is therefore: if Bangladesh can, why can’t India? Why can’t Blue Tigers get their own Hamza Choudhury? 4

Why Indian originals cannot represent blue tigers

Bangladesh is not the only South Asian nation to have a footballer of British origin in their ranks; The Pakistani football team is full of players born in the United Kingdom who chose to play for the country of their origin, notably Otis Khan – which had started its senior career with Sheffield United, the current Choudhury club.

However, the reason why people of Indian origin (PIOS) do not represent blue tigers are simple – while nations like Bangladesh and Pakistan offer double citizenship, does not do so. And in order to represent India in football, a player will have to give up his existing citizenship.

The current FIFA laws indicate that players must acquire the passport of the nation they wish to represent if they want to change allegiance to international football.

And abandoning their original passports for an Indian could lead to complications with regard to their ambitions to represent European clubs as a classification of Indian FIFA (currently 126th), it is difficult for them to acquire a work visa.