Some one tag AIFF president here on IFN. He will get very much important information on Pios and it will save lot of time also... Some days ago a list was provided here consisting of very well established Indian Pios....
Fifa wants just one latter from govt of India saying OCI and PIO cards are equal to indian passport that's it.
This way both party's are happy, India NT get the player and player doesn't lose his European passport
oh. Is it so simple, we have officially 35+ million overseas Indians. But the count would be more than 40 million.
Also why only European passport ?? When most of the NRI's stay in USA/Saudi/UAE. Not sure about Saudi/Citizenship rules.. But most American countries like USA/Canada/Mexico/Brazil/Argentia will grant citizenship by birth.
India football body brings controversial PIO issue to the forefront
It is no surprise that this debate has happened in football — it is indeed normal for national teams to field players born in another country. Morocco famously reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup with a squad-full of French and Dutch players. One has to keep in mind that most Western countries have dual citizenship. Every now and then, India often comes up against teams full of players bred elsewhere, more recently against Pakistan in the SAFF Cup.
However, any attempt to force the issue could lead to a legal mess that will affect the whole of Indian sports. The issue of non-citizens representing India is a Pandora’s box that had been firmly forced shut by the Supreme Court more than a decade ago. A 2010 judgment (Karm Kumar vs Union Of India & Ors) made it clear that, unless the government changed policy, non-citizens of Indian origin were not eligible to represent the country.
That case alone is an example of why allowing non-citizen footballers to represent the country may lead to a big legal mess. It began when Karm, a British squash player of Indian origin, moved the court against the decision to exclude non-Indian passport holders from the national squad. Karm was born in India and had migrated to the UK when he was two — there was indeed a case to be made that he had a strong connection with the country.
However, also party to the subsequent appeal in the Supreme Court was an American named Robert Blanchette, who claimed that he had the right to represent India in Equestrian by virtue of having grandparents who used to be Indian citizens. Blanchette — whose petition was referred to as ‘sketchy’ by the Supreme Court — appears to have little to do with India at first sight.
His profile on the Fédération Equestre Internationale website lists him as competing under Ireland colours (despite being an American citizen). At the time of the 2010 ruling, Blanchette was widely reported as attempting to participate in the London Olympics as part of the Indian contingent. It appears clear here that the event mattered, not the flag.
If a precedent is set in football, there is every chance, in a less-followed sport, of someone coming up with an obscure link to India to represent the country at a high-profile international event, much like Blanchette attempted to do.
Whatever decision the government takes in this regard, they would do well to remember that they might be setting off a chain reaction of irreversible consequences. Not just in sports but across the cross-section, including education. When Make in India is in focus, PIO taskforce is created by AIFF.
Fifa wants just one latter from govt of India saying OCI and PIO cards are equal to indian passport that's it.
This way both party's are happy, India NT get the player and player doesn't lose his European passport
Allowing dual citizenship is much better, every person of indian origin will defeinetly get indian passport. Future is India
We have Pakistan (and Bangladesh) problem, so, dual citizenship not an option.
It's not a binary problem. There's an option of allowing dual citizenship selectively for some countries or with exceptions. Then there can be special cases as per president's discretion.
India football body brings controversial PIO issue to the forefront
It is no surprise that this debate has happened in football — it is indeed normal for national teams to field players born in another country. Morocco famously reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup with a squad-full of French and Dutch players. One has to keep in mind that most Western countries have dual citizenship. Every now and then, India often comes up against teams full of players bred elsewhere, more recently against Pakistan in the SAFF Cup.
However, any attempt to force the issue could lead to a legal mess that will affect the whole of Indian sports. The issue of non-citizens representing India is a Pandora’s box that had been firmly forced shut by the Supreme Court more than a decade ago. A 2010 judgment (Karm Kumar vs Union Of India & Ors) made it clear that, unless the government changed policy, non-citizens of Indian origin were not eligible to represent the country.
That case alone is an example of why allowing non-citizen footballers to represent the country may lead to a big legal mess. It began when Karm, a British squash player of Indian origin, moved the court against the decision to exclude non-Indian passport holders from the national squad. Karm was born in India and had migrated to the UK when he was two — there was indeed a case to be made that he had a strong connection with the country.
However, also party to the subsequent appeal in the Supreme Court was an American named Robert Blanchette, who claimed that he had the right to represent India in Equestrian by virtue of having grandparents who used to be Indian citizens. Blanchette — whose petition was referred to as ‘sketchy’ by the Supreme Court — appears to have little to do with India at first sight.
His profile on the Fédération Equestre Internationale website lists him as competing under Ireland colours (despite being an American citizen). At the time of the 2010 ruling, Blanchette was widely reported as attempting to participate in the London Olympics as part of the Indian contingent. It appears clear here that the event mattered, not the flag.
If a precedent is set in football, there is every chance, in a less-followed sport, of someone coming up with an obscure link to India to represent the country at a high-profile international event, much like Blanchette attempted to do.
Whatever decision the government takes in this regard, they would do well to remember that they might be setting off a chain reaction of irreversible consequences. Not just in sports but across the cross-section, including education. When Make in India is in focus, PIO taskforce is created by AIFF.
We don't have to make this controversial. The approval is subjective to the top brass. Look at Qatar, Saudi there is no issue of what to do if someone comes and asks. We should take the approach of selecting players on approval basis by AIFF/Govt of India. I argue if Pakistan can do it, why can't we? At this rate even countries like Syria are using immigrant population from abroad. We need this aid to have dreams of WCQ. We are currently 20 years away from thinking of WCQ. We will save that timeline with having PIO integrate with in a year or two.
My counter argument to this is if at all we qualify. One thing is guaranteed. The amount of money that the sports body could make is limitless. No other sport can generate the amount of money as WC can. Even with other teams WC in India generates the most money. Even IPL has to stand back in terms of the revenue we could generate. I don't like plastic fans. But we sure will get so many if we qualify
Comments
This way both party's are happy, India NT get the player and player doesn't lose his European passport
Some days ago a list was provided here consisting of very well established Indian Pios....
Also why only European passport ??
Future is India
We have Pakistan (and Bangladesh) problem, so, dual citizenship not an option.
India football body brings controversial PIO issue to the forefront
It is no surprise that this debate has happened in football — it is indeed normal for national teams to field players born in another country. Morocco famously reached the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup with a squad-full of French and Dutch players. One has to keep in mind that most Western countries have dual citizenship. Every now and then, India often comes up against teams full of players bred elsewhere, more recently against Pakistan in the SAFF Cup.
However, any attempt to force the issue could lead to a legal mess that will affect the whole of Indian sports. The issue of non-citizens representing India is a Pandora’s box that had been firmly forced shut by the Supreme Court more than a decade ago. A 2010 judgment (Karm Kumar vs Union Of India & Ors) made it clear that, unless the government changed policy, non-citizens of Indian origin were not eligible to represent the country.
That case alone is an example of why allowing non-citizen footballers to represent the country may lead to a big legal mess. It began when Karm, a British squash player of Indian origin, moved the court against the decision to exclude non-Indian passport holders from the national squad. Karm was born in India and had migrated to the UK when he was two — there was indeed a case to be made that he had a strong connection with the country.
However, also party to the subsequent appeal in the Supreme Court was an American named Robert Blanchette, who claimed that he had the right to represent India in Equestrian by virtue of having grandparents who used to be Indian citizens. Blanchette — whose petition was referred to as ‘sketchy’ by the Supreme Court — appears to have little to do with India at first sight.
His profile on the Fédération Equestre Internationale website lists him as competing under Ireland colours (despite being an American citizen). At the time of the 2010 ruling, Blanchette was widely reported as attempting to participate in the London Olympics as part of the Indian contingent. It appears clear here that the event mattered, not the flag.
If a precedent is set in football, there is every chance, in a less-followed sport, of someone coming up with an obscure link to India to represent the country at a high-profile international event, much like Blanchette attempted to do.
Whatever decision the government takes in this regard, they would do well to remember that they might be setting off a chain reaction of irreversible consequences. Not just in sports but across the cross-section, including education. When Make in India is in focus, PIO taskforce is created by AIFF.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/sport/football/2023/aug/15/india-football-body-brings-controversial-pio-issue-to-the-forefront-2605456.html
My counter argument to this is if at all we qualify. One thing is guaranteed. The amount of money that the sports body could make is limitless. No other sport can generate the amount of money as WC can. Even with other teams WC in India generates the most money. Even IPL has to stand back in terms of the revenue we could generate. I don't like plastic fans. But we sure will get so many if we qualify