The Digicel national football team manager Anushil Kumar did not mince his words when he laid down the gauntlet on aspiring overseas-based footballers who had shown an interest in representing the Bula Boys during the all-important Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) qualifiers in March 2022.
Kumar said the players plying their trade abroad and had links to Fiji would only be considered for national selection provided they attended the upcoming training camps for the squad.
“No one is indispensable,” he said.
“There won’t be any special treatment for any foreign-based footballer. They need to be present physically at the national football team’s training camps.
“The national football team’s head coach Flemming Serritslev has stated that he needed to witness the players attributes first-hand before deciding on the final squad.
“You need to be passionate about representing the country.
“The mindset needs to change if anyone desires to wear the national football team jersey.”
He said with the exception of Fijian wonder boy Roy Krishna, who had declared his availability a long time ago, none of the overseas-based players who had been earmarked for the OFC Qualifiers had shown any positive response.
“There were about four-five footballers playing abroad with whom we were liaising with, but no one has confirmed their availability for the training camps except for Roy.
“We will wait and see but I can guarantee that no overseas-based footballer apart from Roy has cemented his place in the final Digicel national football team.”
Meanwhile, the Bula Boys would face a testing five-match OFC campaign in late March.
Fiji has group matches lined up against two-time OFC Nations Cup finalists New Caledonia, traditional rivals New Zealand and 2016 continental runners-up Papua New Guinea.
The Digicel national football team will play New Caledonia on March 18, battles New Zealand three days later and meets Papua New Guinea on March 24 to conclude their pool matches.
The matches would be staged in Qatar from March 14 to March 30 due to COVID-19 limitations.
