National team head coach Lodewijk de Kruif on Thursday welcomed the initiative of the Bangladesh Football Federation to help three African players get Bangladeshi citizenship. The BFF initiated the move of helping three Africans — Guinean Ismail Bangoura, Ghanaian Samad Yussif and Nigerian Nkwocha Kingsley Chigozi — getting the citizenship at the insistence of Kruif, who is desperate to do well in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign. ‘For short term boost it’s necessary,’ Kruif told New Age via social networking site Facebook. ‘I hope it will give us time to create more players like Hemanta [Vincent], Jewel [Rana], Sohel [Rana] etc. ‘They [foreigners] are important for temporarily making the team stronger. You know the role of the foreign players in Bangladesh Premier League. We are buying time so that Bangladesh players get more time to develop.’
Kruif, who is now in Holland for treatment, will join the national team in the first week of August.
The African trio already gave their consent and accordingly the BFF started the process of their naturalisation.
According to a FIFA rule, a foreign player must play a minimum of five years on a particular country to represent it at international level.
Abahani’s Ghanaian defender Samad Yussif is the only player who is eligible at the moment, according to the rule.
Mohammedan’s Guinean striker Bangoura and Sheikh Russell’s Nigerian striker Kingsley will have to wait till September to be eligible for the national team.
Kruif believes the decision will not harm the local players rather it will help them to be more competitive.
‘The inclusion of foreign players will help Bangladesh football in both short and long term,’ he said, adding that he will explain details once he returns to Bangladesh to take the charge of national team.
Bangladesh will play their next match in World Cup qualifying round against reigning Asian champions Australia on September 3 at Perth.
-With New Age input
