Manchester City News 24/7Writer: Johnny Baguette 
Date:Saturday January 26 2008
Time: 10:24AM
UK time is: 09:39:49
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Akram: UK Government Off Message?
The beleaguered British Government's Home Office have rejected MCFC's appeal for Iraq's Nashat Akram to be granted a work permit...so why's that then?
The reasons have not been revealed. I'm far from a political expert, but I'd be interested to know what the White House would make of that decision.
Hardly hands across the water olive branch stuff to the Iraqi people is it? For years we've been drip fed the sentiment that a worldwide recognised democracy is being built in Iraq and we all stand together for the future etc.
You would have thought that the publicity that could have been afforded to the first Iraqi Footballer playing in the English Premier League would have been fanfared far and wide by Gordon Brown's hapless administration and indeed President Bush's people as a sign of progress.
Apparantly that's not the case and for City to take a delegation to London on appeal, led by the astute Sven-Goran Eriksson, then it's obvious the lad had something about him.
Svennis commented via mcfc.co.uk: 'This is a big blow and a great disappointment to us. I have huge sympathy for Nashat. He is a very good footballer with an excellent international pedigree.
He has now returned to the Middle East and we will keep in touch with him. He is somebody who we will maintain an interest in for the long term.'
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Your Comments
Ah well the Government will no doubt continue to let immigrants come in and sponge on all our social services. Are the members of the Government tha same people who run the FA ???
alphieblues
That is a good point Alphie, the lad would have been able to finance himself without dipping into the public purse, plus his wages would presumably be taxable. No but they are all Swamp Squatter fans with prawn sandwich lunch boxes.
Buzz Lightyear
From The Guardian: The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, was being lobbied today to review the decision not to grant an Iraqi footballer a work permit which could "heal divisions in Iraq". Manchester City's manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had hoped to sign Nashat Akram, a star of Iraq's Asian Cup-winning team, but Akram, 24, cannot come to the UK because of a technicality in immigration rules for footballers.
"I shall be calling on the home secretary to review this decision," said Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East. "Here we have someone who wants to come and work legitimately, a role model for his country, whose presence here can heal divisions in Iraq. Parliament has given ministers the right to exercise their discretion and they should use it. This case sends out all the wrong messages."
Johnny Baguette
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