HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith has been lobbied to review a decision not to grant an Iraqi footballer a work permit to play for Manchester City.
Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had hoped to bring Nashat Akram, a star of Iraq's Asian Cup-winning team, to play for his side.
But Akram, aged 24, cannot come to the UK because of a technicality in immigration rules for footballers.
Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East, said: "I shall be calling on the Home Secretary to review this decision.
"Here we have someone who wants to come and work legitimately, a role model for his country, whose presence here can heal divisions in Iraq. Parliament has given ministers the right to exercise their discretion and they should use it."
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