Manchester United favourite Andrei Kanchelskis has shared his opinion on youngster Amir Ibragimov being called up to the Russia national team.
Sport-Express report comments from the former winger today after the 18-year-old was a surprise inclusion in the Russia squad for their upcoming international friendlies.
Russia’s suprise call-up
Sport Witness covered a report last week stating that Amir Ibragimov would be a surprise inclusion in the group for upcoming games against Egypt, Burkina Faso and Trinidad.
The country are, seemingly, determined to keep an eye on rising talent for the future. And Kanchelskis believes that’s the right decision for his nation.
“Are we going to the World Cup or the European Championship? We’re not participating in anything, so we can watch him,” he told SE.
“Basically, now we can invite players we’ve been eyeing for a while and watch them. Because once we start playing in all the tournaments, we won’t have time to watch them.
“There’s a lot of talk about Ibragimov, so we’ll see what he’s like. There’s nothing wrong with that; I think it’s the right decision.”
England eligibility
The question is whether the Manchester United youngster will then be blocked from future international choices.
The youngster is eligible for Russia and England at this moment in time. He was born in Buynaksk, in the Dagestan Republic, and holds Russian citizenship. But he moved to England when he was 11 years old and started his career in Sheffield United’s academy.
He joined Manchester United in 2021 and has played for England at U15 and U16 level. Playing for Russia, then, could block him for the Three Lions.
However, according to Championat, he is eligible to play for both nations. They have even contacted lawyer Mikhail Prokopets, who has insisted that is the case. According to both, playing in a friendly does not block Ibragimov from playing for England in future.
Friendly matches, even at senior level are not considered “matches in official competitions” according to FIFA’s terminology.
“This should be distinguished from the theoretical situation where Amir plays for any Russian national team in an official match (the Euros, the World Cup, or qualifying matches),” Prokopets said in an interview with Championat correspondent Yegor Kabak.
“In that case, if the player subsequently wants to play for the England national team, he will need to change his nationality by applying to FIFA.”
