Recently, Football Australia announced their under-20 tournament squad, featuring a familiar name, Bangladeshi expatriate footballer Arham Islam. He had played for Bangladesh in age-group competitions last year, gaining valuable experience. Now, within a year, he has received a call-up for Australia.
In November last year, Arham made his debut for Bangladesh in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers held in Cambodia. However, over the past year, he did not receive further opportunities from the Bangladesh team, despite participating in multiple age-group matches.
After a year of waiting, Arham has now been selected for the Australian squad. Mid this month, Australia will play a triangular series in Japan, which also includes Japan and Spain U-20 teams. There will also be matches against club teams during the tour.
Although Arham plays for Western United, participating in this tournament does not automatically make him Australian. However, playing in it would end his future eligibility to play for Bangladesh, as per FIFA Article 5, Paragraph 3, which allows a player to change national teams only once in their career.
This represents a major opportunity for the Bangladeshi expatriate footballer, but it also raises new considerations regarding his future international career.
KhaborwalaAJ
