Allowing Indian-origin players to represent tricolour would be huge help for Indian football: Igor Stimac

Iraq, which stunned Japan in the group stage, has 11 Iraqi-origin players in its squad who are either born or brought up out of Iraq but chose to represent the West Asian side.

FILE PHOTO: India’s Croatian coach Igor Stimac watches the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group B football match between India and Uzbekistan. | Photo Credit: AFP

 

Morocco scripted history when it finished fourth at the FIFA World Cup 2022. Fourteen members of that 26-member squad were born out of the country – a story of how players of origin of a particular can return ‘home’ to take it to greater heights.

Igor Stimac, head coach of the Indian national team, took a leaf out of that book to suggest that the country should also allow players of Indian origin to represent the tri-colour.

“I’m not sure if there is any other country which is not allowing players of their origin to represent their country,” he said.

“It is a huge handicap because there are many good players of Indian origin playing in the top leagues of Europe. So it could be a huge help if we speak about bigger achievements.

At the AFC Asian Cup 2023 too, where India is currently playing, some countries have immensely benefited from the move.

Most recently Iraq, which stunned Japan in the group stage, has 11 Iraqi-origin players in its squad who are either born or brought up out of Iraq but chose to represent the West Asian side.

Of the 16 that played against Japan (including the five substitutes), six were expatriates who had a chance to represent European countries – Hussein Ali (Sweden), Frans Putros (Denmark), Ali Al-Ammari (Sweden), Youssef Amyn (Germany), Merchas Doski (Germany) and Omar Rashid (Netherlands).

But they chose the Mesopotamian Lions who beat Japan after 41 years at the Education City Stadium.

Interestingly, Sunil Chhetri, India’s captain and its highest-ever goalscorer, has roots in Nepal. “Yes, my mother (Sushila Chhetri) and her twin sisters played for Nepal,” he told Sportstar.

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According to the existing laws, the Indian government barred the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) from representing India internationally since 2008. 

Also, Dual citizenship is not allowed in India under the Constitution of India and the Citizenship Act of 1955. So, OCI and PIO cardholders will have to surrender their passports and also stay in the country for at least 12 months to apply for an Indian passport.

And that very bit, time, makes it difficult for footballers to decide upon which country to represent, putting the whole scenario in a catch-22 situation.

If a workaround is found to this, footballers such as Yan Dhanda (Ross County, Scotland), Joshua Pynadath (Jong AZ, Netherlands) and Dilan Markanday (Blackburn Rovers, England) will stand a chance to represent India.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) seems to be already looking at possibilities. In August last year, Kalyan Chaubey, its president, formed a task force to chalk down a list of probable players of Indian origin to aim at allowing them to represent India.

“We will first form a comprehensive database on the OCI and PIO footballers around the world, and then look for the best possible ways to use such players to take Indian football forward,” added the AIFF President.

The task force, chaired by Samir Thapar, the president of the Punjab Football Association, is scheduled to submit a report at the end of this month.