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After India’s loss to Guam in the second World Cup qualifier, Michael Chopra used twitter to vent his frustration about the loss. Chopra, who played for the Kerala Blasters in last season’s ISL, was unhappy that the AIFF has not allowed him to make himself available for the Indian National team.
These were his tweets:
Concept of dual citizenship and naturalisation not anything new
Chopra might actually have a point there as only one of Guam’s starting eleven, Jason Cunliffe, was born in the country, with all the others born in the United States. Guam aren't the only team who have players born in other countries playing for them.
Real Madrid legend, Alfredo Di Stefano, played for three different countries during his playing career. 2014 World Cup winners, Germany, had Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski in their squad when both of them were actually born in Poland.
The strangest case in this category is the story of the Boateng brothers. While Jerome plays for the country of his birth Germany, Kevin-Prince plays for the country of his father, Ghana.
Out of the 23-man Algerian squad, 17 players were born in France. Half of them even played for the junior teams of France, but ultimately chose to represent Algeria. Spain courted Diego Costa away from Brazil even though the player had played two friendlies for the Samba boys.
This is not just restricted to football. If you look at Cricket, Kepler Wessels, who couldn't play for his country South Africa due to their Apartheid ban, played 24 tests for Australia and later went on to captain South Africa, when they were allowed to field competitive teams again. Jonathan Trott was born in South Africa and played for the South African U-15 and U-19 squads, but then decided to play his international cricket for England.
How is nationality decided?
An individual's nationality is generally decided by two laws: jus sanguinis (right of blood) and jus soli (right to soil). India follows jus sanguinis as such the players can play for the National team if one of their parents are citizens of that country. In India’s case, added to that is the fact that dual citizenship is not offered, and so, the player would have to give up their foreign citizenship to become a part of the Indian team.
A group of Indian fans have started an online petition to find make it easier for PIO (Person of Indian Origin) to represent India if they like.
If India can get their hands on someone who has scored more than a century of goals in England, why shouldn't they? Even if he cannot play a lot, his experience can certainly come handy.
Chopra, 31, is willing to give up his British citizenship in order to play for India. With qualification for the Asian Cup (forget the World Cup) looking like a tough ask, should India allow Chopra to play for the National team?
