SPORTS
Al Bangura Given Chance To Stay In Britain And Avoid Deportation To Sierra Leone
Posted by on Dec 20, 2007, 02:32
|
|
Watford midfielder Alhassan Bangura could stave off deportation from Britain after his club was given permission to apply for a work permit for the Sierra Leone native.
The 19-year-old Bangura was ordered deported on Dec. 11 because an asylum and immigration tribunal ruled that he exaggerated the risk to his life if he was to return to Sierra Leone.
However, Watford officials on Wednesday met with Home Office minister Liam Byrne, who approved a request to apply for a work permit for the player.
"This work permit will be subject to an independent panel because Al doesn't currently qualify for a work permit through conventional channels," said Claire Ward, the local lawmaker for Watford.
A soccer player usually has to play in 75 per cent of his country's internationals in the two years preceding the application date to be eligible for a work permit. Bangura has not played for Sierra Leone.
The case has received widespread media attention and rock star Elton John - honorary life chairman of Watford - was one of many who backed the player's fight to stay in England.
Bangura, who arrived in Britain aged 15, has yet to feature in the league this season after a succession of injuries, but made 16 appearances in the Premier League last season as the Hornets were relegated. "He is a special case because he is a highly skilled individual who has a great talent and if you send him back to the country where he has come from then he will be unable to use that talent and that is a great shame," Watford chairman Graham Simpson said. "He has a fiancee here with a young child and if he goes out of this country then the state will have to pay to look after them. Al is quite capable of doing that if he stays here."
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
| 
