Hong Kong footballer in UK on BN(O) visa feels ‘tortured’ over rules stopping him playing for FC United of Manchester
- Ellison Tsang was a member of the Hong Kong team who reached the semi-finals of last year’s Asian Games
- But the defender’s career is on hold after he moved to England to study and could not play for his new club FC United because of visa issue
Hong Kong footballer Ellison Tsang Yi-hang is feeling “helpless and confused” after his promising career was thrown into doubt by UK visa regulations.
He travelled to England anticipating that his British National (Overseas), or BN(O), visa would allow him to play semi-professionally. But he was told 24 hours before a planned debut for FC United of Manchester this month that the English Football Association had blocked his registration.
“It is torturing for me, I had those expectations, then I was knocked down,” Tsang said. “It was really frustrating and left me a bit confused. I had waited months to play, and it was another blow. I didn’t know what to do next.”
Tsang subsequently learned he needed an international sportsperson visa (ISV), because the governing body counts part-time FC United as a professional club. ISVs are granted to “elite sportspeople, or qualified coaches”, who are “internationally established”.