Pahang Football Association (PFA) today distanced themselves from reports that import forward Mohamadou Sumareh will soon be given a Malaysian passport that would qualify him to be registered as a local player.
This follows an interview made by Pahang's team manager, Datuk Che Nasir Salleh to Astro Awani that Sumareh's application to get naturalisation to enable him to qualify as a local player is currently an on-going process.
In the statement by PFA today, they clarified that the naturalisation suggestion was only a personal opinion of Datuk Che Nasir and not a general view of the association or the President of PFA.
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PFA went on to state their regret over the comment made by the team manager and a inquiry will be made over the matter. PFA also state that the matter of any citizenship application is within the purview of the Malaysia government and not anyone else.
Sumareh has been living in Malaysia for 11 years and has played for a host of teams including PDRM, Perlis and Terengganu. The Gambian national certainly has the requirements to apply for a Malaysian passport but the matter isn't quite a closed case as the earlier notion suggested.
Should Sumareh be naturalised, it will certainly provide an option for new Malaysia national team head coach Nelo Vingada. His talent and quality would made him a viable option for Harimau Malaya.
