Our national team head coach, Fernando Santos, did not call up Sumgayit’s goalkeeper Mehdi Jannatov to the national team. However, unlike the other goalkeepers invited by the Portuguese coach, Jannatov played in the last two rounds of the Azerbaijan Premier League and kept a clean sheet in both matches. This raises the question: why didn’t Santos call up the local goalkeeper who is currently in the best form?
At today’s press conference, the national team coach gave a strange explanation for Mehdi Jannatov not being called up: “Mehdi could not be invited to the national team because of passport issues.”
Jannatov has been playing in our country for many years and holds local player status, possessing an Azerbaijani passport. So what kind of passport problem could he have? And if there was a problem, why wasn’t it resolved in time?
According to Idman.biz, Sumgayit’s press service head Zaur Khudiyev responded to a question from Futbolxeber.az regarding this matter. The club official stated that it is not an issue related to Sumgayit: “I looked into this matter. It was noted that this issue has nothing to do with Sumgayit club. You can direct your questions to AFFA.”
In fact, Fernando Santos’s claim regarding passport issues is not convincing. The Portuguese coach had previously not called up Mehdi Jannatov even when he was in good form. In other words, this is not the first time such a situation has occurred.
Idman.biz
