FIFA grants Adelaide United’s Awer Mabil international status

ADELAIDE United sensation Awer Mabil’s wish has come true — FIFA has granted him international status and can now represent Australia.

AWER Mabil’s wish has come true.

FIFA granted Mabil international status on Thursday.

He has been cleared to represent Australia ending a bureaucratic process which was a year-long nightmare for the teenager.

The Adelaide United sensation discovered he didn’t “exist” according to Kenyan authorities when he requested a birth certificate so he could participate in international football.

“I had some very good news and I really happy with it,’’ Mabil said.

“They (Football Federation Australia) have been pushing and pushing they tried for eight, months, nine months almost a year.

“For other people it would have taken ages but the Australian people have been amazing and did all the process.

“There was one guy who worked with FIFA and he sent the form and everything came like an expressway.”

Mabil’s family fled South Sudan for Kenya before he was born.

He has been living in Australia for eight years.

Mabil, 18, is now in line to represent the Young Socceroos at the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship in October in Myanmar.

The side qualified for the tournament after finishing second to Vietnam in Group F after the Young Socceroos were thrashed 5-1 by the Red Warriors in October in Malaysia.

The championship is also the qualifying tournament for the 2015 under-20 FIFA World Cup in New Zealand.

Mabil has already played for the Young Socceroos in unofficial matches in Spain last year and has been invited to camps under current boss Paul Okon.

Mabil was in Okon’s camp in Canberra last December alongside Reds 2014/15 signing Ben Warland and Adelaide-born Marc Marino, 17.

Marino who scored for Campbelltown City — Mabil’s former club — in SA’s national premier league on Monday is on Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC’s radar.

But Mabil said he must impress Okon given another Young Socceroos camp is planned in May at the end of the A-League season.

“At the moment I’m just focusing on working hard,” Mabil said.

“If I do well and if I get called for the camp ... because there’s a lot of players.

“I’ll try to do my best and if they like me, I’ll be really grateful to help them qualify.”

Adelaide United plays Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday, 5pm, at Pirtek Stadium.