Nationality change to avoid military service

The 2020 AFC U23 Championships is held these days in Thailand. Top three teams will qualify for the Olympic Football Tournament in Japan this summer. Thailand, as host, has an augmented chance to make it, but all officials and fans celebrate before the tournament ends. Why is that? Because of the official recruitment of Ben Davis, who made official appearances in the tournament and is now eligible to play in the senior national team.

Ben Davis, a 19-year-old promising midfielder, is a rather unexpected addition to the Thai football staff, as he has played at Singapore low-age national teams. He opted to change his football nationality, though, because of a bizarre reason: To avoid serving in Singaporean military, thus cutting out his professional contract with English club Fulham.

Davis was born in Phuket, Thailand, to a Thai mother and British father. At the age of five his family moved to Singapore and after a few years they became naturalized citizens of the prosperous city-state in the Malay Peninsula.

At a very young age Ben show vast interest about football and at the age of 13 he was offered a scholarship at the Singapore Sports School, thus paved the way to be recruited as a potential national football team player. In 2016 he moved to London to attend famous Harrow High School and one year later he was awarded a two-year scholarship with Fulham’s academy. He was the first Singaporean who could play in English Premier League.

Davis has been called to Singapore U16 and U19 teams, making a few appearances at both. He was ready to receive a call to the senior team upon the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying stage, but Singaporean Minister of Defence intervention made a mess.

According to Singaporean law, every male turning 18 is compulsory enlisted into national service for two years. This means he would quit his contract and potential career at a crucial age. His family, residing permanently in England, made an application to defer National Service to continue develop his professional career, saying that the Singapore national football team could be benefited by this.

Unfortunately, his appeal was dropped, even though the Football Association of Singapore has supported him. Rejection reasoning was that he doesn’t meet the criteria for deferment, as a professional football contract is no different from other pre-enlistees’ personal pursuits. The MINDEF (Ministry of Defense) further accused him that he had no intention of fulfilling his military duty to his country and just wanted to avoid military service. In February 2019, Davis has been deemed as a National Service defaulter, thus he cannot travel to Singapore any more, or else he will be arrested at the airport.

So, Davis decided to turn his back to his country and opt to play for his mother’s country. Although he seldom visited Thailand and has very little knowledge of the country and language, he immediately said that he’s eligible for the Thai national team. Thai officials quickly received the message and in a few months they arranged all the appropriate paperwork to naturalize his once again as a Thai citizen.

Davis could play under Thai flag the next years, but he cannot travel to Singapore any more. He’s not bothering, as he sees his future in England.