Ben Arfa: I would go to the north pole just to play football

Hatem Ben Arfa has denied he plans to retire from football at the age of 27 after he was refused international clearance to play for Nice.


Ben Arfa signed an 18-month deal with the French club after Newcastle terminated his contract but was denied clearance having already appeared in competitive games for two teams – Newcastle and Hull – this season.

Nice contested the ruling on the basis that Ben Arfa had only represented Newcastle’s reserve team – but Fifa regulations regard “under-21 professional development league” matches as competitive fixtures.

As a result, Ben Arfa’s deal with Nice has been terminated – but he remains hopeful of finding a way forward. “Today I’m finished with Nice,” he said, “but maybe that won’t be for ever. I want to thank everyone here – it’s a real regret that I can’t continue, but sometimes you have to accept it and move on.

“Today I’ll try to be positive and see what I can do. On Monday I was on the floor but coming in to training today has made me feel better. Now I just have to do the best I can for the future. The solution may be to go abroad. Would I go to Russia? I’m ready to go to the north pole just to play football again. But for now I can’t really speculate – I just have to think.

“I won’t say I’m sick of French football, because there are good people here – I’m just disappointed and sad.”


Source: Guardian