Copyright timesnownews
Bengaluru FC’s Australian winger Ryan Williams has been called up to the Indian men’s national team camp. The camp starts on Thursday in Bengaluru in preparation for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh in Dhaka, scheduled for November 18. Along with Williams, 27-year-old defender Abneet Bharti — who holds an Indian passport and plays for Academia del Balompié Boliviano (ABB), a first-division team in the Bolivian League — will also join the national camp. Williams, who joined Bengaluru FC in 2023, has Indian roots through his mother, Audrey Williams, who was born into an Anglo-Indian family from Mumbai. The Perth-born player, who represented Australia at U-20, U-23 levels and the senior team, recently received his Indian passport. In June 2019, Williams had played as a second-half substitute for the Socceroos during a friendly against South Korea. Earlier this year, he expressed his willingness to take up Indian citizenship and play for the Blue Tigers. The move came amid the Indian government’s push to allow Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Person of Indian Origin (PIO) cardholders to play for India. The bill has not yet been passed in Parliament. Mandaviya fast tracks Williams' application Williams, who is a teammate of Sunil Chhetri at BFC, had first expressed his desire to play for India through Chhetri, who communicated the message to All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey. “If they live up to the expectations in the camp, then they will travel to Dhaka for the match,” Chaubey was quoted as saying by The Telegraph on Wednesday. “We came to know about Bharti from the Indian embassy in Brazil. A very talented defender,” Chaubey added. “We had to be patient in Williams’ case. Much credit goes to sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya and his ministry. They were of great help,” he added. “From then on, we were working on that. It took around six months to complete the formalities,” Chaubey said. Williams is now waiting for the final clearance, and once it comes, he will join the camp under national coach Khalid Jamil. Bharti will also soon join his new teammates. India are currently not in contention for a berth in the finals of the AFC Asian Cup, to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027, after losing their home match to Singapore on October 14.
