She can play as a forward, a midfielder and a winger and she has already played for the Delhi under-17 and senior teams during her brief footballing career. Tanvie Hans was on a roll at the recently concluded seven-a-side football tournament at the Ferozeshah Kotla, where she led Eves Soccer Club to the title and was named the Player of the Tournament. But she is struggling to get over the fact that she can never play for India. The reason: She doesn’t hold an Indian passport.

“I attended the national camp in Gwalior last year and was almost picked. They deferred the selection date and later said I can’t represent India because I don’t have an Indian passport,” says Tanvie, who is a British citizen.

The winger, however, has never stayed in the United Kingdom. Having opted for the British citizenship through familial lineage, the prospect of being ineligible for national representation never crossed her mind. “I never thought my nationality will stop me from representing India. I think anybody would have gone for the British Citizenship then,” she says.

As local tournaments and, at best, a state representation has become Tanvie’s small world of football, she has plans of pursuing it outside India alongside her studies. “I got the citizenship because it will be helpful for higher studies. I have been to England only during vacations and planning to go there after my graduation here,” she says, adding, “As long as I’m in Delhi, I will keep playing in these small tournaments but I will keep in touch with the game. I will wait for a chance to play in England when I move over. I don’t regret my British Citizenship anyway, but I want to take up the sport as a profession which will be easier in England,” Tanvie adds.

... contd.