Former Sheffield United, Man Utd starlet left in international limbo as FIFA make 11th-hour eligibility call

Former Sheffield United starlet Otis Khan has been left in international limbo after being pulled out of one of his country’s World Cup qualifiers at the 11th hour by the game’s governing body, FIFA. Khan was preparing for Pakistan’s clash with Cambodia earlier this month when he was told he could not play, just two hours before kick-off.

Khan, who joined United after a spell at Manchester United’s youth academy and made two senior appearances for the Blades, re-estabished himself with a spell at Yeovil Town before moving to current club Grimsby Town via, amongst others, Mansfield Town and Tranmere Rovers. Now 28, he made his international debut for Pakistan in a friendy against Mauritius back in June.

Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Khan qualifies for Pakistan through his paternal grandfather, who was born in Delhi but moved to Pakistan after the partition in 1947 before settling in Manchester. Despite conducting an interview with FIFA’s website before the Cambodia game, the governing body then deemed him ineligible.

The Pakistan FA issued a statement which read: “The issue revolves around a specific requirement that one of Otis’ grandparents must have been born in Pakistan. In his case, his grandfather was born in Delhi, British India, prior to the partition and subsequently migrated to Pakistan, like millions of others.”

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Khan - who has a Pakistani passport, and six international caps - has been left in limbo while the issue is resolved. The player later issued his own statement, describing himself as “angry, disappointed, let down, gutted!” and told The Athletic that FIFA viewed his case as “unique ... because India and Pakistan were the same country until 1947 when the partition happened.

“There will be millions and millions of people in the same boat with grandfathers who are Pakistani citizens. But they said it’s a case that they haven’t seen before and they couldn’t rush it there and then, to say I was fine to play against Cambodia. They need to investigate it a bit more and make sure everything is right, which it is. All my family are in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and they have been for years. They have property there, citizenship and identity cards, everything that they need to be a Pakistani citizen.”

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The Cambodia game should have been Khan’s first experience of playing in Pakistan, with all his previous caps coming outside of the country. Pakistan won 1-0 on aggregate without him and Khan added: “It’s a dream, isn’t it? The first step was winning a World Cup qualifier because we’d never done that, and now we’ve achieved that it’s about taking the next step towards that goal.

“They’re planning ahead, they’re not rushing things or looking too far ahead just because they’ve achieved that goal now. The World Cup is still a long way away. We’re playing against Saudi Arabia, who went to the World Cup and beat Argentina. So it’ll be a tough game but we’re looking forward to the next stage and seeing how far we can go.

“Pakistan are a nation of 240million people so when they get it going and get the proper investment, and things are run right, they’ll be a good football nation. It’s not going to be an overnight thing but in the next 20 years, it’s definitely achievable for Pakistan to go to a World Cup.”