Dan Hall of the Mariners takes possession of the ball during the A-League Men Round 18 match between Melbourne Victory and the Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park in Melbourne, Sunday, February 25, 2024. (AAP Image/Morgan Hancock). [R] Tempest-Marie Norlin [Source: Facebook]

The Fiji Football Association today made submissions during the Public Consultation on Review of the Immigration Act 2003.

This in relation to request for law changes which will help Fiji acquire players who have Fijian heritage.

Fiji FA chief executive, Mohammed Yusuf, says they are unable to recruit players with Fijian heritage who play professional football abroad because they don’t hold Fijian passports.

Yusuf explained that, according to FIFA regulations, an individual can only represent a country if they hold a passport of that nation.

“We even went to the minister and one of the outstanding areas is a couple of clauses in the amendment which we have made a submission for them to favorably look at it so that the sport organisation can benefit from these well-trained Fijians born overseas. They can come back and play for Fiji and put a mark in the world map because now you’ll see our youth girls and boys are now qualifying for FIFA world cups. These are big events so we need the best and with the inclusion of these overseas players our team will play very well and strengthen the team’s capabilities.”

The CEO also says that a specific clause in the Immigration Act makes it difficult for them to bring these players into the country.

He adds this clause requires players to reside in Fiji for more than five years before they can be granted a Fijian passport.

Two key players they are hoping to recruit are Dan Hall and Tempest-Marie Norlin.

Hall will play for Auckland FC in their inaugural A-League season, while Norlin plays in Sweden.