The four districts that have registered overseas based players in their Battle Of the Giants squad are not giving up hope of fielding them and are eagerly awaiting clearance from overseas.

Despite missing the services of the players in the pre tournament round, officials are confident of securing the International Transfers before the commencement of the tournament proper on Thursday at the National Stadium in Suva.

Fiji FACT champs Navua is awaiting Auckland City’s Shalesh Kumar’s ITC while Lautoka is still running for Wailotua brothers Peni Finau and Osea Vakatalesau’s release, Ba for Ronil Kumar and Labasa for Fraser Park based Fiji U23 midfielder Shivan Sami.

The players are believed to be cleared by their respective clubs but the clearances from the Australian and New Zealand Football Federations are seemingly delaying the process.

Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar said the players are expected to be cleared by Tuesday as most the paper work has been completed with regards to club clearances but they are awaiting the releases from the national bodies, which he is anticipating to come through in two days.

Navua soccer boss Anil Sharma said they are confident of securing Shalesh Kumar by Tuesday so that he can fly in and join his team in training.

“Shalesh was our key player in the Fiji FACT and his inclusion will add more experience and spark to our midfield which already has the likes of Thomas Vulivuli, Stanley Waita and Pranil Chand,” said Sharma.

Lautoka president Shalendra Prasad said the approval from South Rangers club for which Peni and Osea feature was a blessing in disguise for the association as they had given up hope of getting the duo down for the tournament.

“Earlier this week, the club declined to release the two players but later on they agreed to send them down to Fiji and have given their approval and it’s only the New Zealand FA clearance that we are waiting for before flying in the two players,” said Prasad.

“Peni and Osea are excellent players and their inclusion will really boost our chances in the tournament.

“After Netani was dropped from the team, we had to shift Valerio Nawatu to the strikers position from the midfield area and this did not click in the match against Nadroga as we did not perform very well in the game but with Peni fitting in the central midfield area and Osea upfront, we will be unleashing quite a lethal pack of attackers,” he added.

Lautoka faces Nasinu in the opening match on Thursday while Navua plays Rewa, Ba clashes against Labasa and hosts Suva against Nadi.

Fijilive

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