Bangladesh football team are going to host two FIFA friendly matches against the Maldives in November, said BFF general secretary Imran Hossain Tushar Saturday, but British-Bangladeshi Hamza Choudhury’s debut is uncertain.
The general secretary had stated earlier this year that they hoped to see Hamza play in a red and green jersey by September, but the star footballer’s official switch to a Bangladesh international took longer than expected.
The Leicester City midfielder received Bangladesh passport in August.
The Bangladesh Football Federation then started the procedure to obtain No Objection Certificate from the English Football Association, followed by seeking permission from FIFA’s players’ status committee for the ultimate eligibility.
Along with the process to get FIFA’s final nod, the latest injury of Hamza - dislocated shoulder – has made his participation unlikely during November’s FIFA window.
“He (Hamza) has an injury. We can say if we will get him in November window after discussion with Hamza,” said Tushar.
“The feedback we received from FIFA is that they asked for additional documents from us. We talked to Hamza, his family and agent on how to get those documents fast. We are working on it.”
The BFF general secretary confirmed that Bangladesh will play two home matches against the Maldives on November 13 and 16 during the next FIFA window.
Leicester manager Steve Cooper gave the latest update of Hamza two days ago ahead of the Foxes’ trip to Southampton.
"With an injury like his (Hamza), it’s always a discussion on: does it get operated on, or do you let it recover more naturally? That’s a decision we’ve made,” said Cooper.
"We haven’t gone down the operation route, so he seems to be recovering quite nicely. It will still take a little bit of time because it was a dislocation.
"Hamza has attacked his injury in a positive way, in a ruthless manner, towards getting back as soon as possible, and he’ll be back with us as and when, but not sure when.”
