There have been many Indian-origin players that have over the years played in some of the European leagues. These players while having Indian-origin have seldom played for the Indian football team. Manchester United’s legendary defender, Rio Ferdinand has called for Yan Dhanda’s inclusion in the Indian football team.
Love it @yandhanda… surely @indianfootball national team ⏳👀 @stimac_igor @kalyanchaubey @Shaji4Football https://t.co/J99PYIEdcm
— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) March 27, 2023
Yan Dhanda was born to a Punjabi father and an English mother on December 14, 1998, in Birmingham. Before joining Liverpool for five years, he started his youth career at West Bromwich Albion.
He signed with Swansea who was in the Championship in May 2018 from Liverpool, where he had been a member of the U23s. But after coming off the bench against Sheffield, 20-year-old Yan got the chance to make his debut just four months later. Unexpectedly, the young player not only scored the game’s winning goal but also scored his first goal for the team.
Yan is a midfielder currently at Ross County F.C. Ross County is a team in the Scottish Premiership. The team currently is positioned 11th out of the 12 teams. Dhanda has scored three goals and provided seven assists in 29 appearances. In a poor Ross County team Yan has shown his immense talent that got the football world to react to his game.
Following Ferdinand’s tweet, Shaji Prabhakaran, secretary general of the AIFF, replied to Rio and stated his support for including Yan in the Indian National Team.
Dear Rio, Thank you.
It would be our pleasure to welcome Yan to India national team if he is willing to apply for Indian passport by moving to India.
His challenge wd be to relinquish his current nationality but it will be worth as he can quickly emerge as a hero of 1.4billion https://t.co/oxXoy4J22L
— Shaji Prabhakaran (@Shaji4Football) March 27, 2023
Yan also commented in response to Mr. Prabhakaran’s post, stating that “Giving up his passport won’t be the proper solution” and that he should be given OCI cards.
Giving up my passport means I can’t play professionally in the UK and some European clubs, due to India’s FIFA ranking. Permitting OCI cards, similar to other countries, will allow me to represent the Indian football team as a dual national. I hope this can happen soon 🙏🏽 https://t.co/YOfT5YmnIa
— Yan (@yandhanda) March 27, 2023
It will be a great challenge for Yan as the High Court of Delhi refused an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to represent the country. The ruling further said that an OCI cannot represent a national team of India.
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