Ibrox view: Igamane mystery deepens at Rangers as visa explanation falls flat

Hamza Igamane’s absence from the Rangers squad to face Malmo upset Philippe Clement but ultimately didn’t hold back the side as they recorded an uplifting 2-0 victory.

The cause of the “passport issues” which kept the striker from travelling [4 Lads Had A Dream, 26 September] remains a mystery, with the window available to acquire a visa between the draw and the match seemingly sufficient.

Rangers Review journalist Derek Clark shared visa information via X on 27 September for visiting Sweden which say Moroccan citizens must apply for a Schengen visa “at least 16 calendar days” before the trip via the embassy or consulate of the main country visited, suggesting there wasn’t enough time to do so.

Philippe Clement not happy to be without Rangers striker

He wrote: “This would explain Igamane’s unavailability last night”.

However, Rangers knew they were facing Malmo away on 31 August when the fixtures were confirmed, and since according to VFS Global the processing time “can take up to 15 days” that is well within the 26 days the club had.

On the checklist for acquiring a professional visa to visit Sweden as a Moroccan citizen it states that the passport must be valid for “at least three months after the expiry date of the visa containing at least two blank pages”.

So it is possible that Igamane, 21, arrived in Scotland this summer after his July transfer from AS FAR with just enough months or pages available in his passport but since then it is now either too full or too close to expiry.

Chris Jack admitted he was surprised that Clement hadn’t revealed the striker was out of the squad in his pre-match press conference [Rangers Review, 27 September], and if it is for a reason as basic as the regulations seem to suggest it might explain why.

Cyriel Dessers leads line in 2-0 win

The club haven’t covered themselves in glory from a logistical standpoint this year, with the Copland Road stand works at Ibrox the prime example, so if they’ve dropped the ball on Igamane’s travel documents it would be a major frustration, unless a more complicated explanation emerges.

Thankfully they did impress on the pitch however and the youngster’s absence didn’t prove too costly, as Nedim Bajrami opened the scoring inside a minute and starred in a victory which was rounded off by Ross McCausland.

But Clement is going to need his impressive new striker on further travels in the Europa League group since Danilo has been left out of the squad thanks to his ongoing injury issues.

Visa applications can be an arbitrary, complicated, and often unfair process which leaves plenty of people in the dark about crucial travel plans, but a club the size of Rangers would not expect to have found themselves without a potentially key player for a big game.

Clement told TNT Sports afterwards, via the Scottish Sun, “those are issues you don’t want to face as a manager” so hardly seemed impressed by the situation, but whether it is the Light Blues or the authorities who are to blame is still to be revealed.

In other Rangers news, a BBC Sport pundit is stunned by what he has found out about a surprisingly “magnificent” Light Blues player.

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