Morocco’s success at the 2022 Qatar World Cup has largely been built on the talent in its diaspora, with 14 out of the 26 players in their squad in Qatar born overseas but were later naturalized to represent the North African country.
The Atlas Lions’ stand-out player at the tournament, Achraf Hakimi was born in Spain, Sofiane Boufal who has also been instrumental hails from France while Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech was born in the Netherlands but all chose to represent Morocco, their country of origin.
This has since inspired Zambian Minister of Youth, Sports, and Arts Elvis Nkandu, who has stated that they are motivated by this trend to quickly neutralize players of Zambian descent to play for the Chipolopolo Boys.
The Minister said in a telephone interview on ZNBC Radio 4 that his office will look to speed up the naturalization of 24-year-old Zambian-born defender Amie Mabika whose process has taken a long despite making his debut for Zambia in March this year in a non-competitive match.
READ STORY: Aime Mabika is still ineligible to play for Zambia
Nkandu said that he is very impressed with the performance of Morocco at the ongoing FIFA World Cup, especially since most of their players were just naturalized, hence the need for Zambia to follow suit with Mabika and other players who are eligible to play for the country.
If you have seen how our colleagues are playing at the World Cup, one thing that should come to every person’s mind is naturalization. You have seen the Morocco Football team. A lot of the players were born in different countries; some of them were born in Spain, France, and Portugal, and they are now playing in the national team of Morocco, so that tells us a story that is important for us as a country to do the same.”
The Mabika issue has gotten a lot of attention from the start. I’m in contact with the minister of home affairs, and the last time I spoke with him, he assured me that everything is fine, and very soon I will be addressing the nation, and I want to assure the nation that everything will be finalized soon,
Said Nkandu.
Mabika was born in Zambia to Congolese parents before moving to the United States, where he plays for Inter Miami football club as a center-back.
He pledged allegiance to represent the Zambian colors in March this year and made his debut for Zambia in two friendly matches against Benin and Congo Brazzaville.
Since then, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal Security’s immigration board has not awarded him a Zambian passport, making him ineligible to feature for the Chipolopolo in competitive matches.
Mabika is yet to be issued a Zambian passport, and the relevant authorities did not provide an explanation to the media until yesterday when the Minister featured on a radio show in response to questions from fans who want the Inter Miami defender to represent his birth country.
