Hong Kong-born footballer cannot yet play for city’s national team after 6-month wait for passport
- Michael Udebuluzor is back from playing in Germany, but Hong Kong coach Jorn Andersen cannot yet select the striker to face Vietnam and Thailand this month
- ‘You’ll have to ask the Hong Kong government … I don’t know what’s happening,’ striker says. ‘I was born here and of course I want to play for Hong Kong’
Michael Udebuluzor has arrived back in Hong Kong to help the city of his birth solve its goalscoring crisis – but cannot do so until the authorities issue a passport he applied for at Christmas.
The national team’s head coach Jorn Andersen has been hoping to call up the young striker, and has brought him into his training squad as Hong Kong prepare for this month’s matches against Vietnam and Thailand.
But six months after submitting his application for a Hong Kong passport, the 19-year-old – who has a Nigerian passport through his father, former Hong Kong international Cornelius – is still waiting. Without the document, he cannot play for his home city.
“You will have to ask the Hong Kong government, because I don’t what’s happening,” said Udebuluzor, who took part in his first training session with the Hong Kong squad at the Tseung Kwan O Training Centre on Monday. “I applied for the Hong Kong passport around Christmas time and I am still waiting.
“I was born here and of course I want to play for Hong Kong and win for Hong Kong. I want to make Hong Kong [football] known in the world.”
