India, May 15 -- The Sports Ministry may resume allowing Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders to represent India in select disciplines.

The move can help football where it has long been felt that OCI card holders can at least be a short-term fix for the national team. Tapping into the diaspora is practised by many football federations of which Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines are some examples.

Ranked 123rd, Indonesia are in the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the surge in their performance attributed to a number of players who were born in Netherlands. In April 2024, Indonesia were ranked 134 and below India. Eighteen of the 23-player Philippines squad for the 2023 Women's World Cup were born in the USA. Since 202...