Van Basten you idiot... Why couldn't you use your pull to fasttrack Kalou's citizenship process? Even if you don't have any connections maybe someone like Cruyff could have been contacted to try and help you out... Oops, wrong thread?
Curious to hear thoughts regarding Najar, or any imigrant wishing to obtain U.S. citizenship for the purpose of possibly representing The U.S., and the application of Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes: 15 Principle. 1. Any person holding a permanent nationality that is not dependent on residence in a certain country is eligible to play for the representative teams of the Association of that country. 2. With the exception of the conditions specifi ed in article 18 below, any Player who has already participated in a match (either in full or in part) in an offi cial competition of any category or any type of football for one Association may not play an international match for a representative team of another Association. 16 Nationality entitling players to represent more than one Association 1. A Player who, under the terms of art. 15, is eligible to represent more than one Association on account of his nationality, may play in an international match for one of these Associations only if, in addition to having the relevant nationality, he fulfi ls at least one of the following conditions: (a) He was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (b) His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (c) His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (d) He has lived continuously on the territory of the relevant Association for at least two years. VII. ELIGIBILITY TO PLAY FOR REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS 67 2. Regardless of par. 1 above, Associations sharing a common nationality may make an agreement under which item (d) of par. 1 of this article is deleted completely or amended to specify a longer time limit. Such agreements shall be lodged with and approved by the Executive Committee. 17 Acquisition of a new nationality Any Player who refers to art. 15 par. 1 to assume a new nationality and who has not played international football in accordance with art. 15 par. 2 shall be eligible to play for the new representative team only if he fulfills one of the following conditions: (a) He was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (b) His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (c) His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant Association; (d) He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant Association. Seems to me that Andy can only possibly fulfill Condition D of Article 17 and would only be eligible at age 23, even if he were to obtain citizenship prior to that. Am I missing something? Also, how would this impact players such as Mwanga and Tchani? Mwanga, I believe, came here as a refugee (don't know about Tchani). So I'm sure that special circumstances would apply.
mwanga was a refugee, although his dad was on the other side in the congo civil war... find it hard to believe the current congo regime would accept the son of a hated enemy.. and if i was mwanga, going back to congo, i'd think many times before doing so
These articles are really tricky, for me at least, to parse. As I struggle with the language of 15(1), I keep struggling to understand what is meant by the phrase "...that is not dependent on residence in a certain country..." Also, does the distinction between 16 and 17 have to do with nationality at birth versus naturalization? Does 15(1) arguably not apply to him because his nationality does, in a manner of speaking, depend upon his residence here? This has caused me to waste a good deal of time at work spinning my wheels. Thanks a lot Sea Otter!
Honduran media is reporting that Andy Najar has decided to play for Honduras. http://www.elheraldo.hn/Ediciones/2011/02/03/Noticias/Andy-Najar-jugara-con-Honduras Not really a surprise. After all, he's only eligbile to play for Honduras. We'll have to see whether this is actually true, though. The Honduran media has been less than trustworthy on this topic in the past.
Anyone know how accurate google translation is on this article? The second paragraph reads "Rookie of the Year 2010 told U.S. radio stations that his heart is with the H and we just awaiting a call from the selection." If that is accurate I want to know which radio station.
don't know the timing of these reports and news, or if Megaloudis' quote is still the most relevant/recent. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2011/02/thursday_kickaround_fifa_ranki.html
A Honduran poster in the Youth national team forum said there was a grainy radio interview with "Andy Najar" in which he is claimed to have said what's in that press article. He didn't give many details.........but said it was hard to hear. I trust Goff more than those Honduran press reports. The Honduran press has seemed less than trustworthy. They hear a rumor and then report it as fact.
That explains why his agent backtracked on Najar's quotes. But Najar is a 17-year-old who clearly hasn't learned how to deflect questions in an interview. He let his thoughts slip.
A better than Google translation There can be no more doubts. It is decided, Andy Nájar will play for Honduras. The 2010 debutant told the radio media in the U.S. that his heart is with Honduras and that would mean more than a call from the Selection. "The truth is that I’ve already decided to play for Honduras, we’ve thought about it a lot and it would be an honor to represent my country, the land where I was born”, he affirmed. Andy will debut with the junior selection in April. The Under 20’s coached by Javier Padilla is the team that opened the door, but it is not inescapable that he could jump to the Sr. team very soon. “No, I’ve still not received a formal call to the Under 20’s, I know that it is an important time in the battle for the last phase of qualifying for the World Cup and I’ll be waiting for the call up”, he said. With a full DC Schedule... Nájar is currently in Florida concentrating on his role with DC United. In his Twitter account he posted “I am working hard in Florida. It’ll be a tough tournament and we have to be ready”. Nájar was at the unveiling of the new DC uniform this last Tuesday. The Honduran showed off the new uniforms and was hoping this season would be better for his Washington team that closed the last year with the worst record in the MLS.
Told what US radio media? Wouldn't the radio media publish it? Oh well for some reason I'm starting to believe it.
Well, there is. U-20 World Cup qualifying is 2 months away and that's a big deal because if he helps Honduras, he could play in the U20 World Cup. Also, he knows how far away he is from US citizenship and there is a good chance it is way too long to be worthwhile - beyond even the 2014 World Cup and maybe even well beyond that if he moves to a European club and has to live abroad. There is just so much sacrifice for him to play with the United Sates that the fact this is even a tough decision is nice to hear from a US fan's point of view. With the MLS season approaching, he may just want to end this distraction and move on. I don't believe any Honduran media reports, but I also think all the logical indications point towards him choosing Honduras.
He is 17. Even most very good players do not play an important role with their Nat teams until they are 22-25. So there is no rush at all IF he dreams of playing for the USA for national reasons or he wants to play on a team that might go somewhere at the WC.
Translation is wrong. It should say he told "Radio America" which is a honduran radio station. His quote in the article says "If the call me I'll be there, I'll prepare to give my best on the field for the country where I was born, I'm just waiting for the call"
On the other hand, if he joins Honduras and helps them qualify for the U-20 World Cup, he'll have a chance to greatly increase his exposure on an international stage. Realistically, he's not going to win the World Cup unless he discovers some Argentinian or Spanish citizenship, so why not make the move that can lead to more immediate money for him and his family?
http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ne...dy-najar-chose-play-honduras-false-agent-says According to Najar's agent, Chris Megaloudis, his words were taken out of context. "The words were twisted slightly," he said. "He never came out and said, 'I'm going to play for Honduras.' " "What came out yesterday was portrayed inaccurately," Megaloudis said. "Andy said, based on the country he would play for, that he would give his everything and sweat for everything that shirt represents. They seemed to take that as him saying he'd play for Honduras. But there's still been no contact with the Honduran or the U.S. federation." "We've had some time to think what he's going to do internationally and like we've said all along, he's going to take care of some things on a personal level like school and reworking his contract, getting his family's living arrangements in order, etc.," said Megaloudis. "A lot of those things are done. As soon as he has his high school equivalency diploma, Andy wants to make a decision. But he's smart enough to know not to go ahead and commit himself to anything without first hearing what everybody has to say."
If his agent is going through this much trouble to get the word out that andy hasn't decided,then maybe he hasn't actually decided. I dont know why else he'd go through this much trouble to deny it.