Page "Zesh Rehman" Paragraph 40

Rehman caused some controversy in 2007 when in an interview with the British weekly newspaper the Eastern Eye he said that players of Asian descent should consider sticking to their roots rather than dreaming of playing for England.

Rehman pointed to Michael Chopra, then with Cardiff City, who had been overlooked to play for England despite being the top scorer in the Championship, yet David Nugent, who was then at fellow Championship club Preston North End, was picked.

Rehman claimed " Why wasn ’ t ( Chopra ) picked ahead of Dave Nugent?

He ’ s the top goal scorer in the Championship but he can ’ t get in ( the England set-up ).

So he needs to maybe look at his decision and go play for India instead of hanging on to the dream of playing for England, because it ’ s not going to happen, end of discussion.

" Rehman though criticised Eastern Eye for how they reported his views, saying, " I ’ m pleased with my decision ( to play for Pakistan ) but I had a problem, especially with Eastern Eye.

You said I turned my back on England.

I didn ’ t like the way that came across.

If an Asian you are not getting opportunities ( to play for England ) when you are playing in the Premier League, then Asian players are always going to be overlooked.

When it comes to it, they need to stick to their roots.

" In January 2007 he took part in the London ' One Game ' initiative held at The FA headquarters in Soho Square, London.

He has also been involved in the Show Racism The Red Card campaign and he has taken part in Chelsea's " Search for an Asian Star " campaign.

On 12 July 2008, he took part in the Islam Expo event at the Olympia exhibition centre in West Kensington, London, a four day event whose primary purpose was to build bridges between Britain's Muslim communities and the rest of society.

Rehman took part in a panel giving feedback from his own experiences about the positive use of sport.