Michael Chopra
The Newcastle born striker Michael Chopra who currently plays for Champions ship side Cardiff City has shown his willingness to play for the Indian National side. The Indian national side when took on Kuwait this Sunday witnessed another major negotiation of the possibility of including Michael Chopra to the national side for the upcoming Asia Cup held in January 2011.
The Cardiff Striker Flew to Dubai last Sunday and met Coach Bob Houghton and the other Indian players before there clash against Kuwait on Sunday. India witnessed a miserable defeat of 9-1 in that match.
Michael Chopra has represented England in different age groups Under 17 and Under 21 but still The British striker qualifies under the rules of FIFA to play for India. According to the FIFA rules he can select a national side if the Grand Parents of that player belongs to that particular country. In this case even Chopra has got deep links of Indian origin as his Grand Parents belongs to India.
The British striker is very interested to play for India “I will be honored to represent the country of my origin. I feel I can help our country with my experience of playing against top-quality opponents every week,”
Chopra has represented many top English Clubs like Sunderland and Newcastle and even hold the record of scoring the fastest goal as a substitute in just 15 seconds. His experience would be major boost for India but the rules and regulations of India would make it difficult for him to play for India. According to Indian rules a player who has got Indian Passport can only represent the country in any sporting activity and the Michael Chopra doesn’t possess an Indian Passport.
Chopra and his representatives (Yogesh Joshee and Kenny Moyes, brother of Everton coach David Moyes) had a talk with Bough Houghton and AIFF about this on last Saturday in Dubai and it seems that AIFF is all happy to Include Chopra into the squad but they have to complete all the formalities under the law to make him eligible to play.
Newly-appointed general secretary Kushal Das said on Wednesday that the AIFF has “no problem” if Chopra wants to play for India, adding that they have sent a letter to the government seeking its advice on the matter. “Michael met (coach) Bob Houghton on Sunday. He also met the players. We will be happy if he can play for India,”
He further said “But as we are aware, there are several things we need to clear before we take the talks further. We have sent a letter to the government asking them to explain the rules under which he can be allowed to play for India,” Das said.
It will not be that easy for Chopra’s inclusion in the squad as the coach would be finalizing his squad of 23 players in the first week of December. The team once submitted to the Asian Football Confederation, no changes will be accepted. That means the AIFF has two weeks to sort out the matter.
It would be a huge boost for the team if the deal gets done. Let’s keep our Fingers crossed and hope for the best.
Tags: AIFF, FIFA, Football, India, Indian Football, Indian Sports, Michael Chopra, Sports, Sports India, Striker
