Fabio Dos Santos

Vietnamese President on December 25 granted citizenship to Fabio Dos Santos, a footballer of Brazilian extraction, after a careful examination by concerned bodies.

Fabio Dos Santos is now goalkeeper for the powerful Dong Tam Long An soccer club. His Vietnamese new name is Phan Van Bao, which takes after the family name of Phan Van Tai Em, a good footballer of the same team. “I have taken the name since I admire the talent and personality of Tai Em. I have learnt lots from him,” said Santos.

“One of the reason why I wanted to be a Vietnamese citizen is that I wish to play for the Vietnamese national team,” said Santos. To get Vietnamese citizenship, Santos has given up his Brazilian citizenship.

According to Nguyen Trong Hy, Santos may be called up to the national team as any other Vietnamese players if he proves his ability. He said, in other neighbouring countries granting citizenship is very common, especially for sports stars.

Santos is the second footballer who has been given Vietnamese citizenship so far. Earlier, Ludovic Casset, a footballer of French nationality with Vietnamese-French mixed blood received the status.

Source: VNExpress

Translated by Thu Nguyen