Welcome to Dev's Digest, the agenda-setting Sky Sports column where Dev Trehan delivers exclusive news and reflects on some of the key developments for British South Asians in Football. Hamza Choudhury's shirt from Leicester City's 2021 FA Cup final win against Chelsea will be auctioned for charity later this month, Sky Sports News can exclusively reveal. The framed shirt will be auctioned at a fundraiser for the Children Not Numbers charity, in aid of children affected by the conflict in Gaza, organised by Muslim athlete representation body Nujum Sports.
Choudhury, who ended his 21-year association with Leicester to join Sheffield United over the summer, will be speaking at the event in London on October 25. Choudhury has been in action at the ASEAN Cup where Fulham youngster Farhaan Ali Wahid followed in his footsteps and made his international debut, becoming only the second Premier League footballer in history to play for the Bangladesh national team. Ali Wahid, who is currently on loan at National League leaders Boreham Wood, came off the bench and scored on his second Bangladesh appearance in Thursday's defeat to Indonesia.
Elsewhere, Oxford City winger Dillon De Silva was on target for Sri Lanka in a 3-0 victory against Seychelles, before scoring again in a 2-0 win against the same opposition in the international double-header between the two sides on Mahe Island. Mal Benning and Kam Kandola say Britain's South Asian heritage footballers stand with Zidane Iqbal after the Dundee United midfielder was targeted while on international duty with Iraq. Manchester-born Iqbal bravely spoke out, telling reporters last weekend he had been subjected to verbal and online abuse because his father is British-Pakistani.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Iqbal was unable to accept his Men's Player award at the Asian Football Awards - where Benning was also being recognised with the Football Pioneer award as exclusively revealed in last month's edition of Dev's Digest. Ahead of the ceremony, Benning, who has made four consecutive appearances in the South Asians in Football Team of the Season, told Sky Sports News: "For him to experience that abuse is saddening. "I'm saddened by it, because Zidane Iqbal is a great example for South Asians playing football - he's played at the World Cup.
"Hopefully, this is a one-off for Zidane and it doesn't put a dampener on any South Asian looking up and trying to be a professional footballer. "All we can do as a community is stick together and make sure we're there for Zidane. I know the young lad, he's done well for himself.
"Hopefully, he'll have a great career. I'm saddened, but we're all here for him, definitely." Hereford's Kam Kandola, who picked up the Non-League Player award, said he was proud of Iqbal for taking a stand for South Asians in the game. "We all stand by him and it's important that he is proud of his heritage," Kandola told Sky Sports News.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
