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FIFA has confirmed that five Portuguese players have been excluded from the Macau men’s team because they do not have Macau Special Administrative Region passports, head coach Lázaro Oliveira told Lusa on Friday.
The Portuguese-Angolan newspaper said that the International Football Federation (FIFA, French abbreviation) has informed the Macau Football Association that it has decided to approve the ban order of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC, English abbreviation).
Lazaro Oliveira lamented that the decision will immediately affect the captain, Nicolas Torao, a South African of Portuguese descent, Filipe Duarte, who is training with Benfica, former Portugal youth international, center back Vitor Almeida and striker Yuri Kochan Capello.
The coach said he had sent four players to play in the two-legged 2027 Asian Cup qualifying play-off against Brunei scheduled for September 5-10.
Despite admitting that the situation has become “more difficult”, Oliveira assured that Macau will not give up on its dream: “Now is the time to focus on the players who are present and try to get the best out of them so that they can play two good games and try to get through”.
The coach added that in the medium term the absence could also affect Fabril do Barreiro player David Con Cardoso, who plays in the fourth tier of Portuguese football but is currently injured.
Vítor Almeida, 33, who has worked in Macau for almost nine years, told Lusa that the decision “doesn’t make sense.” “We qualified for the World Cup about eight months ago without any problems,” the defender recalled.
In October, Macau was eliminated by Myanmar (formerly Burma) after a 1-5 defeat away from home and a 0-0 draw at home, in which Vitor Almeida, Nicolas Taurão, Filipe Duarte and midfielder Nuno played. Pereira then played for Imortal in the Portuguese Championship.
Vitor Almeida said the exclusion was unfair to players born abroad, such as Nicolas Torao, who “has represented the national team for more than 20 years and played at youth level”, and especially to Yuri Capello.
Capello, who was born in Macau 31 years ago, told Lusa that he was “disappointed and a little frustrated”. “We all work, we don’t live from football. So we need to make some efforts to participate in training. It is always a pride for everyone to represent the place where they were born”, he stressed.
Without exception
Only Chinese citizens with permanent resident status in Macau can obtain a Macau passport.
Capello, whose mother is Thai and father is Portuguese, said he would have to give up his Portuguese passport according to Macau authorities. “Since it is a personal decision, I do not want to give up my nationality,” he explained.
The current champion, Macau-based Benfica, said FIFA’s decision “could be a dampener for young people”, but warned that there were currently few non-Chinese “playing for young players in the Macau national team”.
Vito Almeida, who also leads a football school, stressed the importance of not “resigning and giving up” so that young people from the region “have the possibility to represent the Macau national team even if they are not Chinese.”
A spokesman for the Macau Football Association confirmed that Lusa was excluded under the regulations approved by the AFC in 2021, and regretted that “players who have represented Macau for many years” would not be exempted.
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