JAMAICAN INTERNATIONAL Michail Antonio has recounted his recent passport dilemma, leading to him missing out on the Reggae Boyz crucial Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals tie against the United States earlier this month.
The West Ham United striker was a glaring absence from head coach Stephen McClaren’s squad, which fell 5-2 on aggregate to the US in their recent match-up.
Antonio was named in McClaren’s initial 23-man squad, however, heading into the second leg of the fixture, it was announced that the striker, as well as teammate Kaheim Dixon, would not be in action as they had lost their passports and were unable to travel with the team.
“Michail Antonio and Kaheim Dixon, both of them lost passports, and it was too late to get new ones and to get visas to come over here so they are missing,” McClaren explained in his pre-game press conference before the second leg.
Speaking on ‘The Rest is Football’ podcast with ex-English stars Gary Lineker and Micah Richards, Antonio explained that his absence was due to misplacing his British passport and travelling on his Jamaican passport for the first time.
During the November international window, Antonio had travelled to Ghana to visit his academy, Samba Stars, before planning to join the Reggae Boyz squad.
However, he was shocked to learn that he had needed a visa for his travel while using his Jamaican passport.
“In 2024, with the times that we’re in with AI and everything, you’re telling me that I can’t leave the UK, where I was born and I’ve never left, fly to Ghana using my Jamaican passport, and I can’t come back to England without a visa,” Antonio lamented.
“I go to Ghana for three days, do all the media work and everything that needed to be done. I go to airport, obviously I’m flying back to the UK to fly to Jamaica, and I get to the airport and they were, like, ‘Where’s your visa?’ I was like, ‘Visa for what?’ And they said you need a visa to get back to the UK.”
The English-born striker was then forced to stay in Ghana for a few more days before he could secure his travel back to England.
He said following the delays, he was unable to secure a passport in time to travel to the US and was forced to miss out on the second leg.
“I needed a visa with the passport, so I got stuck in Ghana for another two or three days,” he explained. “I got an emergency passport just to get back to the UK, and I wasn’t able to get a visa to fly to America because I couldn’t get a visa on my Jamaican passport.”