Sunil's workpermit rejected; Loses chance to play in England

Sunil had signed a three-year contract with Queen's Park Rangers few weeks back. The club since has been working to get its work permit for him to play in England. He was informed by his agent yesterday that It was rejected by the UK government.

Since India is not in the top 70 in the FIFA ranking and the British government only permits non EU players if the player is playing for the country and the country is ranked below 70 in FIFA ranking.

Queen's Park Rangers is also partly owned by Mittal Group. The club had been following Sunil's career for over a year and they were very happy with the way he has been progressing and playing. The club CEO had also come to see him in Barcelona. Sunil though did not train initially in Barcelona but joined in the later stage. The amount of training and two matches he played were very impressive. Sunil has been on the radar of a lot of scouts over the years. His performances have been outstanding for the club and the country. It was rather unfortunate that he got injured during the end of the I- league, which kept him out for a month and half. There has certainly been lot of interest in Indian players over the past few years and it was quite a set back for him to be out in the initial part of the Barcelona tour.

It would defiantly have been a major step forward for Indian football had his work permit gone through. Queen's Park is a massive club and are currently playing the championship league. They are one of the favourite to win the league. Indian captain says, "Sunil would surely have done well in Queen's Park. He has the ability to play even in the premiership with one or two years of experience in the championship with QPR. It's sad that Indian team does not play enough international matches and that is a big set back for our ranking as well as our development. This is also a reason why today Sunil is not playing in England."

Asked why was this contract with Queen's Park was kept under wraps, Sunil says, "I had signed with them few weeks back and I knew I still would have had to wait for a work permit. So with lots of stories about me playing in Europe and with having a bad experience with the media in the Coventry case, I was skeptical. I am disappointed because the work permit is something that I can't do anything about, being so close and not getting it is indeed disappointing. But it's not the end of the world. I will still continue working hard for my country and my club Dempo, who have been very supportive."
Players reaction

Steven Dias: I feel sorry for Sunil. Even I am trying to play outside India. His going there could've helped open opportunities for players like me. I am sure he along with others players will play overseas soon.

Renedy Singh: Its so unfair to have a ranking issue. They need to look into quality of players then national team ranking. It would help if talented players like Sunil and others make it big.

Mehrajuddin Wadoo: His playing would boost Indian football and help the game immensely. He surely has the talent to play with the best.

Source : FPAI

From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Saturday 29 August 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.