During the last international break in November, Ashley Barnes of Burnley admitted that he’s waiting for clearance from Austrian authorities to represent their national team.
The 29-year-old represented Austria U20s once in 2008 and has an Austrian grandmother which qualifies him to play for the country, or so he hoped.
However, the Council of Ministers in Austria decided not to accept the Clarets striker in February.
For this reason, the national team head coach Franco Foda was unable to include the Bath-born player in his squad to face Poland and Israel in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
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The Austria coach gave an interview to APA and Spox.com have relayed his comments. He was asked ‘there was also a meeting with Ashley Barnes. How much does it hurt you that his naturalisation did not work out?’
Foda said: “In the end, I’m sorry for him, because he wanted to play for the Austrian national team with all his heart, he could have brought something new into our game, but I’m less concerned with players I do not have.”
Barnes’ wish to represent Austria has been crushed and Foda is also unhappy that he can’t call on the Burnley frontman for the international fixtures.
