FIFA’s ‘unprecedented’ stance on Emmanuel Frimpong’s nationality switch is delaying the midfielder’s quest to play for the Black Stars, says the Ghana FA.
The England youth international applied to the world governing body nine months ago to switch national allegiances to enable him to play for his country of birth.
The Arsenal star provided Fifa with all the necessary documents confirming he is keen on playing for Ghana and has blood ties to the West African country.
The GFA also provided the supporting documents needed by FIFA for the switch to be approved – including a letter from the England FA.
But FIFA officials have written to the GFA saying they need documents from the Scottish and the Welsh FAs confirming that he has not played for them as he holds a United Kingdom passport.
The GFA has promptly written to both federations asking them to provide the necessary information to satisfy FIFA for the switch to be approved but some are yet to respond.
“Frimpong played for England at the junior level so we wrote to the English FA to confirm he is eligible to play for Ghana at the senior level. They wrote,” Ghana FA boss Kwesi Nyantakyi said.
“We sent the letter to FIFA and as expected we thought FIFA would give a straight away approval.
Source: MTNFootball.com
“FIFA has come out with an unprecedented approach to solving this issue.
“FIFA says we should go to all the UK federations – like Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to confirm that Emmanuel has not played for them.
“We think it is an unnecessary demand but if that is their rule we will submit to it.
“We have written to all of them but some have not responded. So we are still following up to ensure that we get the documents.
“As soon as we get the documents we are sure FIFA will approve Frimpong to play for Ghana.”
Born in Ghana’s capital Accra in 1992, Frimpong arrived in London as a youngster before joining Arsenal’s youth academy aged nine.
The young star played for England’s youth teams but has yet to represent the Three Lions at the senior level.
This means he is still eligible to play for Ghana – the country of his parents and the country of his birth.
