Al Bangura Update

On Friday, I posted about Al Bangura and his background as well as the unfortunate situation he's found himself in right now. Red tape is everywhere in government these days to the detriment of simple human compassion and understanding, and just a few days ago it looked like Bangura was going to be deported back to Sierra Leone.

Not so fast. Bangura has been given a temporary reprieve by the Home Office, and he'll be allowed to stay in the UK while he applies for a work permit after the Home Office heard his appeal to prevent his deportation. In normal circumstances, a work permit probably would not be granted because Bangura is uncapped and Sierra Leone are not in the Top 70 in FIFA's world rankings, but this case will be considered by an independent panel of Home Office members and influential figures in the soccer world.

From a BBC article:

Labour MP Claire Ward, who brokered the meeting with Home Office minister Liam Byrne and has been a staunch supporter of Bangura's case, said: "They will consider his track record and what he brings to the game.

"They will then recommend to the Home Office whether he should be allowed to stay.

"At the same time the lawyers will be submitting Al's appeal through the legal process to the tribunal's decision, so we have two ways now to sort this out.

"We have moved a step further and it's a matter now for the panel to judge the sort of things that Watford fans have been seeing over the last few seasons, which is just how good Al is."

This is a step in the right direction and surely gives Bangura more hope to stay in the UK and play for Watford, who currently sit on top of the Coca-Cola Championship. Watford hosted Plymouth Argyle on Saturday and at half-time more than 18,000 home and away fans protested in support of Bangura, holding up posters with his face under the words "He's family". He was visibly moved to tears by the fans' backing and although he hasn't played since August due to an ankle injury, it's great to see those fans supporting this cause. This is something that goes above and beyond the game of soccer, this is about a hard-working young man who has a young family and because of circumstances he had no control over, will be in life-threatening danger if he's forced to return to Sierra Leone.

The online petition I encouraged you all to sign is in full swing. The original goal of 5,000 signatures has more than been surpassed, and in actual fact, the new goal of 10,000 signatures has been as well. There have been 10,372 people who have signed this petition and if you're not one of them, take a few minutes out of your day and add to that ever-growing total. I have the site in bold below, just copy and paste it into your browser and fill out the brief form to add your name and support Al Bangura in his attempt to stay in the UK.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-al-bangura