Ryan Naderi Czech call-up stalled by red tape

Red Tape Halts Ryan Naderi’s Czech Republic Breakthrough

Ryan Naderi should be preparing for his first international cap. Instead, the Rangers striker is waiting on paperwork that refuses to move, held up somewhere between two government offices hundreds of miles apart.

Naderi holds Czech citizenship and made his choice clear some time ago.

He picked the Czech Republic ahead of Germany and Bulgaria, two countries where he could also have qualified to play.

Administrative hold-ups in Brno and Prague have kept him out of the squad, despite his citizenship being settled and his intent never in doubt.

It is a frustrating position for a player who did everything asked of him, and it leaves Rangers supporters watching a process rather than a debut on the international front.

Inside the Bureaucratic Delays from Brno to Prague

Pavel Nedved, general manager of the Czech Republic football association, has been open about the situation and about how close Naderi came to involvement. He confirmed the striker was genuinely wanted for selection.

“Ryan Naderi is definitely in our sights, I can confirm that. He is a player we wanted to call up. Unfortunately, we cannot do it yet even though he has Czech citizenship. The last administrative steps are missing. Our legal department did everything possible to successfully handle it, but so far it has not worked.”

That statement captures the problem of a stalled process, sitting somewhere between the two Czech cities.

Naderi has not simply waited for others to sort it out. Nedved was clear that the striker took matters into his own hands from this side of the process, chasing documents and forms without being asked twice.

“Ryan did an awful lot for it, he really wanted it. He himself took care of the paperwork in the UK and I really appreciate the effort he has made.. But so far, we haven’t been able to get it done, either in Brno or in Prague. Honestly, I don’t know how much of the process is missing at the moment.”

Two cities, one federation, and still no resolution. That admission from a senior official gives a real sense of how tangled the paperwork has become, and how little clarity even the Czech FA itself has on when it might clear.

Unfortunately, he Naderi won’t feature for the Czechs in the upcoming round of games.