| By Chris Bevan BBC Sport |
Manchester City's £7m deal to buy Parma midfielder McDonald Mariga has fallen through after the Kenyan international was not granted a work permit.
Mariga, who has 24 caps for Kenya, met the criteria for appearing in 75% of internationals in the last two years.
But his application was rejected as Kenya are ranked 98th in Fifa's world rankings, outside the top 70 nations.
City attended an appeal at Wembley on Monday morning but failed to overturn the decision about the 22-year-old.
They can request a further appeal in a future transfer window but will not be able to register Mariga as a player in the current window.
A delegation from Eastlands travelled to the appeal to argue their case in front of a panel made up of representatives from the Football Association, Premier League and the Professional Footballers' Association, as well as some 'independent football experts' - usually ex-players.
Mariga was hoping to become the first Kenyan to play in the Premier League.
He joined Parma on a permanent basis in the summer of 2008, after initially moving on loan from Swedish side Helsingborgs, and is under contract with the Serie A outfit until June 2012. ……..
What a diabolic shame!!!! The youngster is brilliant, described as a talented combative midfielder, but alas not if the Brits can have their way. Back home in Nairobi the UK foreign office and the UK DfID are raucous indicting the government of squandering education funds….well I agree something must be done to stem the graft, but please jonny boy, cant you bloody grant a Kenyan youth a chance to build himself.
Going by experience most youth like Marigah usually come back home and start a foundation of sorts which does magic for the young talented youths living in Nairobi’s rough side. This might be a point to ponder for the johnnies. They could have at least granted the lad a chance based on his special talents.
I don’t mean to be a wise man or anything but I believe FIFA stands for human development, remember the slogan FAIR PLAY, that’s what Marigah needed, some fair play. I,m sure the chap is all but broken. It will be interesting to see how it affects his performance. Being a fighter he might just fight his way up the list singlehandedly and become a prize possession for any serious division one teams midfield.
On the flip side it’s a shame that the dire state of our soccer has denied one of our best talents a place in one of the finest leagues in the world. A chance to prove his worth.
This should be a far reaching lesson for KFF, that’s if they are listening. Going by the talents in our possessions we ought to be amongst the top teams on the continent.
Lets just hope that recent developments which have seen various corporate rekindle support for local teams will help galvanize the morale an fever required for a Kenyan football revival.
All the best Mc Marigah, as they say “Lala Mbele” we are proud of you.
Posted by Protest.
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