Jimmy Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 I have read on this forum several times about how valuable Tam would be to the National team. He is surely a vital piece that is missing in defence or even midfield where AEK use him. Well, am not sure if it would help any, but is there a way the Voyageurs could get some petition of some sort to try and see what the hold up on his passport issue is. It is a shame that a player of his skill and experience is left out coz of some bureacracy. For those who dont know what is happening. Basically Tam was born in Malawi and came over to Canada very young and therefore got his Canadian citizenship. He has even played for Canada at both youth and senior level. Anyway, for his career he applied and got German citizenship as he played there long enough to qualify. The problem is in getting German citizenship, he had to give up his Canadian status. Now he cant play for Canada as he is no longer a citizen. He also cant play for Malawi or Germany as he has already played for Canada. Am sure if the CSA really get on the case there is a loophole that would allow him to resume his Canada career. Is it possible to get a "Voyageurs Tam for Canada petiton"?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kibby Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 He is no longer a citizen? Thats makes no sense..... Doesn't his declaration of forfeiting his Canadian citizenship to a German judge infact have zero-effect on his actual Canadian citizenship as he must forfeit infront of a Canadian judge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Kibby He is no longer a citizen? Thats makes no sense..... Doesn't his declaration of forfeiting his Canadian citizenship to a German judge infact have zero-effect on his actual Canadian citizenship as he must forfeit infront of a Canadian judge? No he has to show proof to the German judge that he has renounced his Canadian citizenship so basically he needs an official document from Canada stating that he has renounced his citizenship. I guess there is always the chance that he could subsequently reapply for Canadian citizenship which Germany would know nothing about unless you were involved in some prominent endeavour such as playing international soccer. As someone born in Germany who does not have citizenship due to not having (Sieg Heil) enough German blood, I am always hoping Germany will sometime enter later half of the 20th Century as I know the 21st is far too much to ask. It is pretty hard to understand how in these days of European Union that people born in certain European countries are European citizens while people born in other European countries are not. Do I sound bitter enough! Believe me Germany makes it very hard to get citizenship (or even landed immigrant status with a regular work permit) and I am sure it was not easy for Tam either (though being a rich soccer player sure puts you at the head of the line). I do find it hard to understand how one would give up Canadian citizenship for German but then I am not someone with the potential to make the type of money that a top soccer player with an Euro pasport can earn. In Tam's case it might be even harder to get his Canadian citizenship back if he wanted to because he was not born here though if he moved back to Canada I doubt it would be much problem. I have always campaigned for Tam to be called up to the MNT and we could really have used him in 2004 and could really use him now. However, since he has renounced his citizenship I have mixed feelings about him being called up because in my books he is not really Canadian any longer. Plus you can be sure that in any coverage of our WCQ campaign that he takes part in the fact of his Canadian citizenship renounciation will be mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted December 5, 2007 Author Share Posted December 5, 2007 Well, the thing is with the limit on non EU players, it is a move that he had to make. He now has so many more opportunities t move wherever opportunities may lie. I think in the same situation, most people would do exactly what Tam did. I dont think it is purely a money issue as you make it seem. The fact that he has already played for Canada and cant as a result play for another nation must mean there is a way back. It would be interesting if a new Bosman rule is born and it will be called the "Nsaliwa" rule. That's his family name for those who may not know. Anyway, I hope he will be able to get back into the fold. Surely a player training and playing with Rivaldo must be able to bring something good to the MNT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 I know it happened ages ago, but find yourself a tape of the 2002 (I think that was the year) Gold Cup game between Canada and the USA. Tam owned DeMarcus Beasley for the entire game. I admit that I haven't seen Tam play much since them, but I'm willing to bet that he has improved since than, or else why would a club of AEK's stature pick him up and play him regularly. I'm looking forward to checking him out today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadasBest Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack I know it happened ages ago, but find yourself a tape of the 2002 (I think that was the year) Gold Cup game between Canada and the USA. Tam owned DeMarcus Beasley for the entire game. I admit that I haven't seen Tam play much since them, but I'm willing to bet that he has improved since than, or else why would a club of AEK's stature pick him up and play him regularly. I'm looking forward to checking him out today. Was at that game in Los Angeles with Vancouver Fan. Beasley was running rampant on the wing until Holger put Nsaliwa on the wing to mark him. It was a thing of beauty. I really don't see what the issue is here. The rule has been put in place to prevent players from switching allegiances to stack countries with good players. This isn't the case. It's only right that Tam should still be allowed to represent Canada. Tam is a political refugee in the sense that he has only been forced to give up his Canadian citizenship out of politics. Edit. We should send the CSA a letter asking that they petition FIFA on Tam's behalf. And if they won't we should petition FIFA ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Wait a minute. Lars has a german passport to avoid foreign player restrictions yet continues to play for Canada. What is he doing that Tam isn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyr Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Scottie Wait a minute. Lars has a german passport to avoid foreign player restrictions yet continues to play for Canada. What is he doing that Tam isn't? It could be that there are different rules for people who attain their citizenship through family relations (which is how I presume Lars got his) and those that qualify through having lived and worked in Germany as a landed immigrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Scottie Wait a minute. Lars has a german passport to avoid foreign player restrictions yet continues to play for Canada. What is he doing that Tam isn't? I believe Lars was born in Canada, while Tam was either a landed immigrant or had refugee status (being born in Malawi), so their statuses are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Lars is also born in Canada so maybe he has renounced to his canadian citizenship (unlikely) to gain his German passport but he's still eligible to play for us since he's born here (unlike Tam). Edit: Redhat beat me to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 Tam doesn't necessarily need to regain Canadian citizenship; he simply needs FIFA to recognize that he has been capped by Canada and can continue to play for us. I'm not sure a player like Bircham had citizenship. But again, we haven't heard ANYTHING regarding the actual details of Tam's case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 5, 2007 Share Posted December 5, 2007 quote:Originally posted by redhat I believe Lars was born in Canada, while Tam was either a landed immigrant or had refugee status (being born in Malawi), so their statuses are different. If you have German blood and are born outside of Germany you are allowed to have dual citizenship. If you are born in Germany or are an immigrant without German blood you are not allowed to have dual citizenship. Thus, Lars is entitled to dual citizenship and did not have to give up his Canadian while Tam would have to give up his Canadian citizenship. Believe me I know far more about German citizenship laws than most Germans not that it ever helped me avoid 8 years of continual problems with my papers. An interesting fact: when children of parents without German citizenship (a very large percentage of non-ethnic Germans living in that country since it is so hard to get citizenship) are born in Germany, the parents have to apply for a residency permit for the baby within two weeks of birth. In essence the baby has to immigrate to the country he was born in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 Tam scored a goal in AEK's 1-0 victory in the UEFA cup. They have a good chance to get into the next round.Here is the goal http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3og81_mladaaek-01-uefa-cup_sport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Daniel Tam doesn't necessarily need to regain Canadian citizenship; he simply needs FIFA to recognize that he has been capped by Canada and can continue to play for us. I'm not sure a player like Bircham had citizenship. But again, we haven't heard ANYTHING regarding the actual details of Tam's case. I believe you are right Daniel. Once he is capped, he is ours regardless of subsequent change of citizenship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadasBest Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 The CSA needs to appeal to FIFA's Executive Committee for a ruling on Tam's status. (If they have not done so already). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouver Fan Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 This whole situation is a huge joke. I cannot understand why such rules are in place. This could only happen to a Canadian. Has anyone heard of any other players that this has happened to? Just another in a long list of obstacles that we have to overcome. Unbelievable. [] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Probably, VF, cause no other country would put up with it. Why not call him up to a friendly anyway? What are FIFA going to do? Dock us some ratings points? That doesn't mean SFA in CONCACAF anyway. If anything, calling him to a friendly it would immediately resolve the issue. If FIFA has a problem with it, they'd have to provide a solution. In addition to being incompetent, the CSA are also pussies. How bad can this get? great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Daniel But again, we haven't heard ANYTHING regarding the actual details of Tam's case. Perhaps we could get a journalist to ask a few right and true questions of those directly involved (namely, Tam and some gov't mouthpiece) to get some more information? We might get zilch or we may find that the ball's entirely in Tam's court and he can't be bothered to get his citizenship back: who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Seems like from what Mitchell said they are actively trying to get Tam back into the fold. So I assume Tam knows about this, and hence I'm guessing the only problem is red tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44 Seems like from what Mitchell said they are actively trying to get Tam back into the fold. So I assume Tam knows about this, and hence I'm guessing the only problem is red tape. Then why doesn't a media type phone Tam to get his perspective and then contact the gov't person directly involved with the case to get his/her perspective in order to help us confirm our assumptions and guesses? As I already stated, we might get nothing but at least an attempt was made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desigol Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Never rains but it pours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancouver Fan Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone Probably, VF, cause no other country would put up with it. Why not call him up to a friendly anyway? What are FIFA going to do? Dock us some ratings points? No kidding.They should have called him for S.Africa.Would have definitely sent a message and gained some respect within the sqaud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone What are FIFA going to do? Ban us from World Cup Qualifying for fielding an ineligible player? Fixed your post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 quote:Originally posted by jpg75 I'm a ***** too. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone Thanks. No problem, us pricks should probably stick together... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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