Canada-based Shamit Shome agrees to play for Bangladesh

Bangladeshi-origin Canadian midfielder Shamit Shome has agreed to play for the Men in Red and Green.

Bangladesh Football Federation’s vice president Fahad Karim confirmed this to the media Friday. Shamit currently plies his trade for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC.

He featured for Canada Under-18, U-20 and U-23 national team from 2015 to 2018. He then played two matches for the Canada senior national team with the last of those appearances coming in 2020. The 27-year old was born in Canada to Bangladeshi parents.

Shamit can switch allegiance to Bangladesh, pending FIFA’s approval.

The procedure to obtain Bangladeshi passport will start from Sunday. Along with the passport, the BFF may need official approval from world football’s governing body FIFA before Shamit can turn out for Bangladesh.

Shamit is the second expatriate footballer in a year who has agreed to play for Bangladesh after England-based Hamza Choudhury. Bangladeshi-origin Hamza already made his debut in red and green jersey against India in the Asian Cup qualifiers last month.

Earlier, Denmark’s Jamal Bhuiyan and Finland-born Tariq Qazi, both of Bangladeshi origin, donned the red and green jersey. Bangladesh will play their second Asian Cup qualifier game against Singapore at home on June 10.