Bangladesh national football team coach Javier Cabrera hoped to have Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury in his squad after the midfielder received his Bangladesh passport on Friday and expressed his desire to represent Bangladesh.
The Spaniard heaped praise on the quality of leadership and technical ability of the England-born Bangladeshi-descent midfielder.
鈥楬e (Hamza) will be a great addition for the team, not only for his quality鈥攚hat he can provide because of his quality, as he is definitely a very top-level player鈥攂ut I think he can provide a lot of things off the pitch as a leader with his experience in the Premier League at the top-flight,鈥� Cabrera told reporters at the BFF House on Saturday.
鈥楬e has also played for all the youth teams of England. So I think he will definitely be a very good example off the pitch, and he will definitely be a great addition. Hopefully he will be with us very soon.
However, BFF general secretary Emran Hossain Tushar confirmed that Hamza鈥檚 parents collected his passport from the Bangladesh High Commission in London on Friday, and the footballer has also sent a letter to the BFF.
鈥楬is parents received the passport from the Bangladesh mission yesterday [Friday]... By this time, he, in a letter to us, expressed interest in playing for Bangladesh. And we have already forwarded the letter to the English Football Association asking to have a non-objection certificate,鈥� said Emran.
After receiving clearance from the English Football Association, BFF must petition to the FIFA Players Status Committee for approval before Hamza can represent Bangladesh.
