India’s shortcut to FIFA World Cup?

Former Liverpool Academy graduate Yan Dhanda expressed his desire to play for India recently. With his grandparents from Punjab, Yan is one of the most prolific foreign-born Indian-origin footballers, alongside Bayern’s attacking midfielder Sarpreet Singh.

Interestingly, the push for Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) to improve the Indian national football team is not contemporary. Head Coach Bob Houghton tried to add ex-Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra to the Indian squad in 2006. Igor Stimac also showed interest in Iran’s Indian-origin player Omid Singh not so long ago. However, due to stern regulations, Japan-born Izumi Arata is the only PIO to obtain an Indian passport and represent the Blue Tigers so far. At the global stage, it is absolutely common to have foreign-born players in the national teams. 137 players from 28 nations were not born in the country they represented at the FIFA World Cup 2022.