Manuel Cardoni, National Technical Director of the Luxembourg Football Federation (FLF), has commented on the situation surrounding young player Fabio Domingos. In a telephone interview with RTL, Cardoni said the FLF was “surprised” by Cape Verde’s decision to select Domingos.
The decision to call up Domingos had followed a presentation by Cardoni, who had introduced the player to national team coach Jeff Strasser and emphasised that his profile made him a good fit for the Red Lions’ squad. Cardoni noted that Domingos had also been “pleased” about the call-up.
The Cape Verdean federation reportedly reacted after it was announced that Strasser had named Domingos in the squad for Luxembourg’s match against Malta. “There is a system behind it, involving headhunters who were alerted via a network that we had selected Fabio Domingos for the senior team”, Cardoni said.
Cape Verde, which has qualified for the World Cup, is set to play friendly matches against Chile and Finland in the near future. Fabio Domingos was called up for those fixtures. Cardoni noted that Domingos is among a number of players with Cape Verdean origins who reside abroad, and acknowledged that qualifying for the World Cup is a significant selling point.
“What is surprising, however, is that none of the Cape Verdeans spoke to Fabio – neither the coach nor the technical director. It was all done through agents and networks, where a list is simply sent out to make quick selections”, Cardoni explained, adding: “It is quite clear that they are playing with the dreams of young players.”
He said this made Domingos’s decision to accept the invitation all the more surprising, given the work Cardoni had invested in his development. “It is a choice we have to accept, and one the player must also take responsibility for himself”, Cardoni said.
He nevertheless acknowledged his disappointment, highlighting that a sporting plan had been built around Domingos, with the view that he was ready for the senior team. That work, Cardoni said, had now been “trampled all over”. He lamented that “there was a whole project behind it”.
Cardoni described Cape Verde’s approach as “completely arbitrary” and said it was not the first time such an incident had occurred. “We need to think about a strategy for how we will deal with such situations in the future”, he said.
