Nana tells Chelsea star Hudson-Odoi to switch nationality

President Nana Akuffo-Addo has urged the Sports Minister, Mustapha Ussif to explore the possibility of Callum Hudson-Odoi switching nationality to play for the Black Stars.

“On Monday, 7th June 2021, Ghanaian-born Chelsea footballer, Callum Hudson-Odoi, paid a courtesy call on me at Jubilee House, the seat of our nation’s presidency. Amongst others, I urged the Minister for Youth and Sports to explore the possibility of having Callum switch nationality, and play for the Black Stars,” The President’s Facebook page posted images of the meeting.

The Champions League winner has already been capped three times for England but FIFA’s new rules allow players who have not played more than three senior matches for their country before they turn 21 to switch nationality.

Odoi himself has refused to rule out a potential switch to represent Ghana having been left out of England head coach, Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming Euros.

“I think obviously when you’re young and you’ve had the opportunity to play for England throughout all the years; from under 15 to under 16 all the way up, when they obviously gave me the opportunity to come, I was in the country already. It’s something that I already had in my mind, to play for England,” he told fans in Ghana over the weekend.

“So it was obviously about either choosing Ghana or England and at the end of the day, I said I always had the right people around me who always advise me on what’s right and what’s wrong. England came and I said yeah, let me go and play for my country. But I said Ghana is my home as well, so we’ll see, we’ll see. You never know, ” he added.

Hudson-Odoi’s three matches for England (against Czech Republic, Montenegro and Kosovo) were all played in 2019.

Despite, FIFA’s rule change, the player will have to wait three years after his last match for his current side before submitting an application for a nationality switch. leaving the player eligible to potentially feature at the next World Cup tournament should Ghana make it there.

While in Ghana, Hudson-Odoi has played in an exhibition match and watched one of the country’s biggest derbies, between Hearts of Oak and Great Olympics, at the Accra Sports Stadium.