Richard Kone has been called into the Ivory Coast Under-23 squad for the first time.
He could make his debut when they face Netherlands Under-23s on June 6th.
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Can only assume I have misunderstood Kone’s back story.
Huge for the guy! Congratulations!
How so?
Not sure I’ve heard of an Under 23 squad before. Kone badly in need of a long rest this summer. I suppose it’s good news for him though.
I had understood that he came to this country to claim asylum. When he was granted refugee status, he was free to work and that was when he started working for WWFC.
Presumably I haven’t got that right.
There are some interesting questions about Kone’s back story but as long as he plays for us i’m going to stick my fingers in my ears and go LALALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU
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Its all a bit murky. You would think if his asylum is baded on fear of persecution in his home country, travelling back would be difficult. I also guess he doesnt have a passport, but a travel document which may have limitations
Its a whole story, that will be unravelled at some point.
I don’t think it’s about his freedom to work, I guess it’s more of a question behind his reasons to leave and want to claim asylum (perhaps in fear of being persecuted if he stays in his home country) and then those fears suddenly not being that important if he is happy to fly back to the Ivory Coast to represent them.
But my overall feeling right now is to congratulate him. He’s earned the right for the call up.
I’ve avoided speculation about Kone’s backstory because there’s only a very limited amount of information in the public domain and if what’s in it is accurate, this call-up makes no sense at all. I can only think of only three plausible scenarios for which all the facts fit. But given they rely heavily on guesswork - some educated, some less so - it’s best kept to myself.
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Under-23’s is often used in the Olympics to stop the bigger nations from bringing all of their big guns to them & they allocate 3 or 4 overaged players that can play.
So I suspect this is a qualifier for the Olympics next year
Genuinely intrigued to know what some of the insinuations in this thread are.
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Why?
If Kone can:
A) Get honours and recognition
B) Be lauded as a talent and recognized in a place where he lived under fear (regardless of when, where, why and how)
C) Learn new skills and see new places
This is brilliant, and exactly what those who helped him through darker times and challenges will want. Good luck to him. Can leave mud raking to others.
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Soapbox maybe but I’m going to add that by the time anyone at Wycombe had ever heard of him he was already scoring at a ridiculous rate and showing great talent, after some months of trials and supporting him with admin we got a great player for knack all who scored a lot of goals, and in January half of the championship would have given us £2m+ for him. If your reaction to him getting youth honours is to start questioning wether we should be calling up the home office you need to have a look at yourself.
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Because two posters have gone out of their way to cast doubts over Kone’s backstory. It’s a strange thing for them to do without first congratulating him on a huge achievement. I’d be interested to know what they are insinuating in doing so.
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It was reported in the media that he claimed asylum in the UK because he wasn’t safe in the Ivory Coast. Maybe he’s only playing away games for them 
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I guess we’ll find out if the Ivorian FA are better informed about Kone’s status than some Gasroomers.
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This season has certainly been eventful. Congratulations to King Kone… Let’s hope he’s protected when he returns to the IC.
I’m sure that’s true, Floyd and perhaps more relevantly the club who no doubt are watching carefully to protect what is currently their highest value asset.
I have to say I was quite proud that our club would employ a refugee, especially one I had understood had had to flee his country due to prejudice there about his sexuality and especially in todays poisonous political climate. It’s the sort of values I like in our club.
While wishing Richard well and recognising that he is by all accounts a nice lad, I confess I am a little saddened that what I thought I had understood about his immigration status does not appear in fact to be the case.
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