Wales boss Craig Bellamy disappointed he cannot consider Celtic’s Callum Osmand
Craig Bellamy has expressed disappointment that he can not consider Celtic teenager Callum Osmand for Wales selection after a change in the rules around the eligibility of players from the Channel Islands.
Jersey-born forward Osmand was capped by Wales at Under-16 and Under-17 level when players from the Channel Islands were able to represent any of the four Home Nations.
But a change in the rules means players from the Channel Islands – British Crown Dependencies who are not full FIFA or UEFA members – are now only eligible to play for England, and Osmand’s Wales career is at an end as he has no Welsh heritage.
“I like him, but unfortunately he’s not on the radar to be able to play for us,” said Wales manager Bellamy, who says he has been aware of Osmand’s situation for some time.
“If he was it would have been a completely different conversation I would love to have had. I would liked to have talked about it all.”
Osmand has made a dramatic impact since Celtic interim managers Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney succeeded Brendan Rodgers.
He made his senior debut in Celtic’s 4-0 win over Falkirk and netted his first goal for the club in Sunday’s 3-1 Hampden victory over Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
The 19-year-old has since been added to Celtic’s Europa League squad.
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As I understand it, it’s due to the Channel Islands being part of the English FA setup, rather than being considered part of England itself? Is the rule change documented anywhere? Is it a change to the Home Nations Eligibility Agreement – which itself seems hard to track down! There really needs to be a single document publicly available for all to see – otherwise we’ll end up with ineligible players being fielded, individual nations playing fast and loose with the rules, or even players losing their chance to play international football. Alternatively, stick to the FIFA eligibility rules only,… Read more »
That’s disgusting, he has already played for us. How dare they prevent him getting to the full squad.