West Ham striker, Michail Antonio, is believed to be among many Premier League players rumoured to be switching nationalities to Jamaica.
The 30-year-old is in the form of his life, registering 23 goals and assists in his last 34 league matches since the start of the 2019-20 season. It’s this kind of form that have made Jamaica so keen on acquiring him.
Despite having previously been called-up to the England squad before, he is yet to have won a cap. Antonio is therefore still eligible for the Reggae Boyz through his parents’ Caribbean roots.
Speaking to SportsMax TV, Michael Ricketts, the head of the Jamaican Football Federation, read out a long list of players playing in England who are “in the process of acquiring their Jamaican passport.”
The list included Antonio, Watford’s Andre Gray, Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden, Everton’s Mason Holgate, Southampton’s Nathan Redmond, Brentford’s Ivan Toney, former Leicester winger Demarai Gray and Rangers’ Kemar Roofe. Norwich’s Max Aarons wasn’t mentioned but is believed to be among the players.
Why The Jamaican FA?
They are trying to make the most of a FIFA rule change that allows a player to change nationalities if they have played fewer than three competitive games for a country.
With the 2022 World Cup just around the corner, it seems Jamaica are looking to strengthen their squad in order to quality for the tournament.
With these players set to link up with existing Jamaican internationals such as, Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey, Fulham duo Michael Hector and Bobby Decordova-Reid as well as former Man United and West Ham prodigy Ravel Morrison – the Reggae Boyz will have one of the best teams in the CONCACAF region and should qualify.
Jamaica don’t have the best infrastructure in terms of pitches and coaching at a grassroots level so this is perhaps why they look to ‘sign’ players who grew up elsewhere but have Jamaican heritage.
Changing The Rules
On the one hand it prevents the ‘superior’ football nations like England, Germany or France just fielding a young player at international youth level in order to ‘sign them up’ just in case they go on to be a star player.
The rule change would help to rebalance the power in international football and lead to more competitive matches. This is something FIFA have been looking to do for a while. As shown with the UEFA Nations League which was brought in to prevent the ‘meaningless’ friendlies and make the better nations stop playing against such weaker oppositions in matches that felt more like a training game.
It is also great to see players staying in touch with the history and culture of their family backgrounds.
This new rule may have some negatives thought. It can lead to players representing nations they aren’t fully attached to as well as players coming through the ranks with one nation then switching to another after a lot of time has been invested in them.
Why Is Antonio switching Now?
In Antonio’s case, it is believed he wants to give something back to the home country of his parents.
Jamaica have always maintained contact with Antonio throughout his Hammers career but they made no official approach, as they believed he would play for England.
However, despite the good form of Antonio and his ability to be a useful player off the bench for England, manager, Gareth Southgate is consistently choosing younger striker ahead of him.
West Ham season ticket holder, Finlay Jackson, said, “I’m happy for him, it’s the right move at this stage of his career. I think only injuries have stopped him breaking through to the England squad, he was called up before but one time he had to withdraw through injury – it was a shame.”
Controversy After Rice Switch
It’s not the first time a West Ham player has decided to switch nationalities. Back in XXXX Declan Rice changed from Irish to English.
The Republic of Ireland FA probably felt begrudged after he changed his allegiance after three years of playing for the Republic of Ireland’s youth and senior teams.
Rice received the young player of the year award at three different age groups only for him to snub Ireland for England.
“I know some Irish fans and they felt a bit stabbed in the back, but the hate he got from some was unfair,” said Finlay Jackson.
Rice was the victim of much criticism and hate; he admitted he had even received death threats online.
Speaking to ITV news at the time, Rice said, “I’ve had people saying they’re going to come to my house…yeah online. There’s a few bits I could go into, but I don’t need to go into it, threats to my family, threats to me. He continued that his parents were also on the receiving end, “it was tough, there has been some abuse, it was more for my mum and dad really.”
New Fans
Many of the Hammers faithful will now be keeping a close eye on the Jamaican side. Jackson admits the green, yellow and black are calling: “I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing him (Antonio) play in a World Cup soon – even though it’s not for England.”
