Hong Kong secured a 1-0 win in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Group C game against India at the Kai Tak Stadium on 10 June. After a closely fought battle between the two sides, the deciding moment came in the 94th minute, when Brazilian-born Stefan Pereira scored from the spot after Vishal Kaith had brought down Michael Udebuluzor in the penalty area.
Both players involved in the goal – Pereira and Udebuluzor – are naturalised Hongkongers. 37-year-old Pereira was born and brought up in Brazil, and first moved to Hong Kong in 2013. He became a naturalised citizen in December 2023, and his strike against India was his first international goal.
Though born in Hong Kong, Udebuluzor was a Nigerian citizen, being the son of former footballer Cornelius Udebuluzor. Michael renounced his Nigerian passport and became a naturalised citizen of his birth country in September 2023, aged 19, and has played 15 times for Ashley Westwood’s side.
The involvement of these two ‘foreigners’ in India’s defeat has reignited the issue of whether India should, too, allow the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) to play for the Men in Blue. The Indian supporters have been quite vocal about this for a long time, and even manager Manolo Marquez has been coy about the issue. AIFF, still, continues to drag their feet on the issue.
When asked about Hong Kong’s plethora of foreign-born players in a pre-match press conference, Marquez said that if he were the coach of the Dragons, he “would do similar things”.
OCI Football Players For India – Details
India are one of the few ‘rising’ Asian sides that does not allow dual citizens to play for the national team without renouncing their original passport. Not only that, but players have to actually live in the country for two years before applying for citizenship.
That hurdle has rendered several foreign-born and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) players ineligible to play for India, including British-born Danny Batth, Michael Chopra, and Yan Dhanda.
India’s poor FIFA rankings mean that Indian passport holders usually do not get a work permit to play in England’s football pyramid, which makes English-born players reluctant to renounce their British passports. Even if they are willing, as Danny Batth was, the two-year residency requirement is, in his words, “a brick wall straight away”.
Such rigid requirements mean that Indian managers have a limited pool of players to call upon, mainly from the country’s north-eastern states, where football trumps cricket in popularity.
Naturalised Players In Other Teams
In contrast to India, smaller nations like Hong Kong have a large contingent of either naturalised players or first or second-generation immigrants. Alongside Peireira and Udebuluzor, Hong Kong also had Juninho, Fernando, and Dudu – all born in Brazil, as well as Spain-born Manolo Bleda and Japan-born Sohgo Ichikawa.
Other nations, too, have followed suit. Bangladesh, whose long-time skipper Jamal Bhuyan was born and raised in Denmark, added former England U-21 international midfielder Hamza Choudhury to their ranks, and he scored in his home debut against Bhutan.
The Bengal Tigers also added Shamit Shome, twice capped for Canada, as well as Italy-trained Fahamedul Islam, to their squad.
The Sri Lankan team, which won 3-1 against Chinese Taipei on 10 June, had players born in Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, England, Australia, and the Netherlands.
Arch-rivals Pakistan, too, have a number of foreign-born players. Their goalkeeper, Yousuf Butt, was born in Denmark, while both their centre-backs – Mohammad Fazal and Abdullah Iqbal – are Swedish-born. There are three British-born players as well.
In fact, Pakistan made history when Premier League footballer Zeshan Rehman opted to play for them, paving the way for the other teams to do the same.
It remains to be seen whether India follows suit. Fan rumours indicate that manager Marquez may step down following India’s defeat to Hong Kong, and whoever comes in to replace him will need to decide whether to push the agenda of including OCI players or not.
One thing is clear that the upcoming match against Singapore on 9 October is make-or-break for the Men in Blue in terms of their qualification from the group stage. Whether we have players from the Indian diaspora making their appearance or not will be a point of contention for fans and board members alike.
