MISSION TO RESCUE TSANG IN VISA SAGA
Local FA tries to cut through the red tape with promising defender ‘a genuine case of studying in England and not being allowed to play football’
The local football association is trying to come to the rescue of Ellison Tsang Yi-hang, whose career has run aground since he moved to England to study last year.
Defender Tsang was on the cusp of signing for FC United of Manchester, but 24 hours before a planned debut in February, discovered his registration had been blocked by the English Football Association.
Tsang, 20, had expected his British National (Overseas), or BN(O), visa to allow him to play semi-professionally. He subsequently learned he would need an international sportsperson visa [ISV] to play for seventh-tier FC United, because the English governing body considers them a professional club.
The saga has dragged on with no sign of a resolution, leaving Tsang, who was instrumental to Hong Kong under-23s’ run to last year’s Asian Games semi-finals, kicking his heels. He has played competitively only twice since the bronze medal match at the Asian competition on October 7. Both appearances came for Hong Kong in the Guangdong-Hong Kong
Cup, on January 31, and February 7. Hong Kong head coach Jorn Andersen says Tsang “has talent … and can compete at a high level”.
The HKFA last month appointed John Morling as its new technical director, a post that involves monitoring Hong Kongqualified talent playing abroad.
Morling said Chris Jenkins, the HKFA’s lead performance and methodology analyst, and Graeme Chan, the representative teams administration manager, were speaking to the English FA to try to cut through the red tape.
“We contacted the English FA on Ellis’ behalf to try to see if we can fix that issue,” Morling said. “It is quite complicated, but we are trying to help him and at least convince the FA to provide some form of registration in the short term.
“It is a genuine case of him studying in England and not being allowed to play football.”
Tsang, who is regularly training to maintain fitness, said he “asked the FA for help ... but is waiting to hear about any developments”.
“I am expecting it to be tricky, with it being the end of the season [in English non-league], but it is good news they are in contact [with the English FA],” he said.
Tsang began this season with HKU23, before leaving the city to pursue a physiotherapy degree at the University of Salford. A Kitchee academy graduate, he was at the heart of a Hong Kong defence that shut out Palestine and Iran in startling Asian Games victories.
Tsang was a member of the full Hong Kong squad for the East Asian Football Federation Championship finals in July 2022, but is waiting for a senior competitive debut.
Tsang said he felt “tortured and helpless” after being told about the visa snag, with FC United, of the Northern Premier League, questioning the wisdom of paying around £775 (HK$7,550) to act as the player’s sponsor in his ISV application process.
ISVs are granted to “elite sportspeople, or qualified coaches”, who are “internationally established”.
The UK government’s website specifies a BN(O) visa entitles holders to “study and work [except you cannot work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach]”.
I am expecting it to be tricky, with it being the end of the season [in English non-league] ELLISON TSANG