Bright Dhaira, the father of Late Abel Dhaira has revealed that his son was lined up for selection in Iceland’s team destined for the 2016 EURO finals.
Iceland qualified as the runners up of group A in the qualifying stages after amassing 20 points from 10 games. The Nordic nation qualified together with Czech Republic and Turkey in a group that also had Netherlands, Latvia, and Kazakhstan.
“Our God has defeated my understanding, because we fasted and prayed for long for Him to grant Abel (RIP) his wish to change or get a dual citizenship (in Iceland) so that he could live up to bigger dreams,” the bereaved soft spoken coach revealed to Chimp Sport at his residence in Walukuba East Block 11.
He added that, “The first part of the prayer request went through when he (Abel) came home and broke the news that his application to get a dual citizenship had been accepted. They (Island) assisted him because they knew his worth.”
The father, who is also a former National goal keeper further revealed to this website that Abel confided in him that some senior officials in the national team had approached him and was lined for provisional selection for the final one tournament scheduled for 10 June to 10 July 2016 in France.
The next time the lanky and stylish custodian flew to Uganda he was sick!
Change of nationality Technicalities.
An excerpt from the Fifa statute on change of nationality
Abel has previously been named on the bench for Cranes Afcon qualifiers in 2012 and 2013 but did not come off the bench.
In their 15 definitions of terms in the statutes, Fifa has not explained the term ‘full or partial’ match and could therefore mean only a player in the field of play in the official duration of a match.
This could have therefore given Abel a chance to feature for Iceland.
CECAFA tournaments which the former goalie won with Uganda are not recognized by Fifa nor Caf and can not be regarded as official international matches.
Previously, players eligible to change associations in order to play for another national team could only do so until their 21st birthday but however The Congress decided to lift the age limit, but maintained all the other provisions of article. 18.
“Fifa states that any player who did not participate (meaning playing) an official game is allowed to change country if he is a binational,” Jérôme J. Dufourg, an International Sports Business Professional added his weight. (He has previously worked in Kenya (FC Atlanta), Rwanda (Ferwafa) and currently in Cameroon.