Immigration says no to Toronto FC

[JesseDart]

The Sun is reporting that TFC is getting no love from the Immigration office. Apparently they had problems with Abbe Ibrahim, from Togo and Danny Dichio from England. Do they not read the news? Do they not know what's going on with Soccer? If this was Hockey, there would be no questions about it.

Can anybody say petition letter?

Source: http://torontosun.com/Sports/2007/05/15/4181196-sun.html

[Free kick]

I am confused and I dont understand this at all. We have players from all over europe and the US who come to play hockey in canada. Players from the Carribean, latin america and the far east who come to canada to play baseball. Players from Africa, and Western Europe who come to play basketball. Not to mention all the americans but what makes the circumstances so different for this game?

Other than the Bob Probert thing, I have never ever heard of these kind of stories in other sports. Yet, on the flip side we hear it with canadian soccer players going to the UK and EU. Well what about all those Cnd Hockey players who went to Europe to play during the strike. Again, I never heard any such stories.

Here is my theory. As I have a mentioned in the past when we hear these stories about the red tape problem some canadian soccer players faced when going to Europe. That is, that this is all a "red hearing" that soccer teams use and that has become part of the soccer culture. I suspect that there are some addition considerations or burden that has to be borne by the club ( likely financial) that they are not divulging to the media and the " immigration Red Tape" just becomes a convienient excuse. Its funny isnt it, but the "cant miss" talent never incurrs these problems. That is why when I hear these stories about a canadian not getting a spot on euro club because red tape, I now automatically assume that its because they dont want him badly enough.

[Canuck Oranje]

Somebody at TFC is not doing their homework. One time is forgivable. Twice can be bad luck. But three times is stupidity.

Sorry, the Blue Jays have had Latin players, the Raptors have international players and so do the Leafs. The processes are the same for all. Apply for a work permit before coming to the country and work the system. You would think MLSE could get it done quickly.

[argh1]

quote:Originally posted by Canuck Oranje

Somebody at TFC is not doing their homework. One time is forgivable. Twice can be bad luck. But three times is stupidity.

Sorry, the Blue Jays have had Latin players, the Raptors have international players and so do the Leafs. The processes are the same for all. Apply for a work permit before coming to the country and work the system. You would think MLSE could get it done quickly.

I hate to agree with anyone

But there's gotta be more to the story. Besides the Jays and the Raps, how many foreign players come each year to fill the import quotas of the CFL.....and what about the 100 young Europeans who come to Canada each year to fill the European quota in Major Junior Hockey plus US citizens.

There's more to this me thinks. Somebody didn't do the job right with paper work?

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by argh1

Thats a good one. I forgot about that. It had crossed my mind in the past that the way the process might work is that you need to make a case with the authorities that there isn't a worker of comparable skills available domestically. Hence that might explain why some canadian soccer players like DeRosario ran into this problem in the UK. Their thinking might be: Hey, you are a canadian and Canada is not known for soccer therefore why should we allow this worker when there are plenty of similar workers of, " in our interpretation", equal skills domestically?

But that theory goes out the window with the Junior hockey example. There are a ton canadian Junior hockey players whose jobs are displaced by the 100 or so europeans. So if the authorities allow that, then why is soccer singled out.

[Guest speedmonk42]

Clearly Dichio is a terrorist and here to undermine the social fabric of our society.

Just look at the breakdown of social order when he scored.

Shameless.

[john tv]

Oops I better not give my comments,but am I surprised I guess not. However I know that wholy day of justice in all areas of soccer will come and than I can relax and by the way I am sleeping a lot better. It is now 6 hours but I would like to make it seven.

[marktci]

quote:Originally posted by john tv

Oops I better not give my comments,but am I surprised I guess not. However I know that wholy day of justice in all areas of soccer will come and than I can relax and by the way I am sleeping a lot better. It is now 6 hours but I would like to make it seven.

For what it's worth, I'd like to hear them.

[jpg75]

I could see him showing up on a visitor visa cuz he's training with the team for 2 days and watching the Dynamo game. But when he arrives Customs asks him why he's here and states it's for business purposes. He doesn't have the right paperwork for a business visit and gets sent home. Now, the club should be looking out for this type of stuff and it's baffling that the same organization that has no immigration problems with Czechs, Swedes, Russians etc. playing for them is now having issues with Togolese, Brasilians and Trinidadians.

[Richard]

Clearly there is more to this than MLSE is letting on. They know what they are doing with the immigration/work permit stuff because they deal with it all the time.

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by Richard

Clearly there is more to this than MLSE is letting on. They know what they are doing with the immigration/work permit stuff because they deal with it all the time.

Agreed. Someone didn't do their homework. Why is Mo assuming all

British players to be eligible? Would it be possible to sign him

and trade his rights, as part of a package, to let's say, Houston

for Derosario ?

And if Mo is disappointed about Boyens being called up by New Zealand,

should he expect the same for UK players such as Welsh?

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by redhat

I think you meant Robinson. Robinson is the international and will be involved in euro qualifying this summer.

[Juby]

This is all pretty confusing because the difference between Canada and Europe's immigration systems is astounding. Canada wants immigrants, we need them to keep expanding our economy (because in growth rates, if you look at the amount of canadians being made the ol fashioned way, our population would be starting to decline). We literally have quotas that we fail to fullfill (ie we can never seem to get enough, although that could be fixed if we lowered the necessary points just a bit to incluede a few more working class folks). In Europe, I don't want to sound mean, but some nations have very strict limits on immigration (where we have quotas, they have caps). In election campaigns in europe, wanting to decrease the number of immigrants coming into a country is a perfectly acceptable political arguement and will put you in favour with the right wing. Here, even if some people are xenophobic, it is a rare site to see a politician actually throw their support towards limiting immigrants.

I am extremely confused why Canada would have these problems, maybe the ministry of immigration pays too much attention to soccer and their giving the world the finger for keeping peters on the edge of his seat (this is a joke, not a very good one either)

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

I think you meant Robinson. Robinson is the international and will be involved in euro qualifying this summer.

My bad ... Robinson it is.

[georg]

Immigration Stalls Toronto Trial

http://www.soccer365.com/Home/page_89_142903.shtml

Toronto FC have been sent back to the drawing board after Trinidad & Tobago international Collin Samuel was kept from making a trial with the club by visa troubles.

The Dundee United forward netted five times for the Scottish Premier League club this season.

"He was denied entry, which I don't understand," Johnston told the Glove & Mail. "There are six or seven other teams after him and we were first onboard."

"We invited him here, we tried to get him here for a game, let him see the atmosphere, it was an ideal opportunity."

[Trillium]

Samuel switch in doubt

Wednesday May 16 2007 14:31

Dundee United forward Collin Samuel's proposed move to Toronto is in doubt after the 25-year-old's entry into Canada was blocked by immigration officials.

The Trinidad & Tobago international, who has been released by the Tangerines, was told he should have applied for a full working visa.

Samuel's agent, Raymond Sparkes, said: "Toronto are getting crowds of 20,000-plus and want to have Collin on board.

"We just didn't have enough time to apply for a visa so the result was he couldn't fly out.

"I know Toronto are disappointed, but I still believe (coach) Mo Johnston is keen to follow through with his interest.

"Collin will go back to Trinidad as soon as the season finishes and then we'll see what happens after that."

So the player agent shopping the player got it wrong by not having the right visa application made in time, or indeed any application at all.

[Guest Can. in UK]

From the Canadian immigration website, in the exemption section:

"Athletes and Coaches: Foreign teams, athletes and coaches may compete in Canada without a work permit."

Wouldn't foreign TFC players fall into this category, as with all MLB, NBA & NHL players? Or am I missing something?

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by Can. in UK

From the Canadian immigration website, in the exemption section:

"Athletes and Coaches: Foreign teams, athletes and coaches may compete in Canada without a work permit."

Wouldn't foreign TFC players fall into this category, as with all MLB, NBA & NHL players? Or am I missing something?

But this is for one-off events. If the player/coach is planning on a long-term stay (ie, playing for a team), they must go through the proper channels.

[Canuck Oranje]

The key point is drawing a wage in Canada. Playing for TFC as a professional means a wage coming from Canadian sources. The same issue applies to foreign journalists. If the journalist is drawing their wage from outside of the country, they do not require a work permit.

The second issue is the length of stay. More than six months means more scrutiny.

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

But this is for one-off events. If the player/coach is planning on a long-term stay (ie, playing for a team), they must go through the proper channels.