The All India Football Federation is “exploring” the possibility of selecting Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) for national duty and will approach 24 such players soon, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey has said.
“Exploring” is the operative point of note for at the moment the hard reality is that Indian law does NOT allow dual citizenship. A 2008 government rule makes clear that PIO players are required to become Indian citizens if they aspire to play for the country. The government made PIO and OCI card holders ineligible to represent India unless they give up their foreign citizenships and get Indian passports.
“We are looking to approach 24 PIO players who are playing across the world. But you know there is the issue of dual citizenship (not being permitted to play for India). So, we have to see how this can be done within the framework of Central Government’s rules,” Chaubey told PTI in an interview, without revealing the names of the players.
“We are having internal discussions on the matter and will come out with more details once more clarity is established.” According to the draft minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of November 9, a sub-committee of the AIFF under Punjab Football Association president Samir Thapar “will collate data and information on the subject” to enable the national federation to arrive at a decision.
