Michael Chopra was in rehab for gambling addiction

Player of Indian Origin Michael Chopra, who plays for English Championship side Ipswich Town, is once more fighting his addiction against gambling as was disclosed by his club coach Paul Jewell earlier today.

After the game on October 1 against Brighton Chops spent three weeks receiving treatment for a gambling addiction in the Sporting Chance Clinic in Hampshire and only came out to play games for Ipswich Town. Now things are said to be better and the club decided to make it public ahead of the game against FC Millwall over the weekend.

"Chops has a gambling problem. It's an illness," Paul Jewell told the Ipswich Town club website.

"But he's doing something about it. He is standing up and facing the problem head on and he deserves credit for that. It's a brave man that does that.

"He needs the help of the players around him, myself, the chief executive, and most importantly the supporters. He is desperate to do well for this Football Club and loves it here.

"We have been there for him and we will continue to be there for him. All I ask is for the supporters to be there for him as well. I'm sure they will be because we're lucky, we have a great set of supporters at this Club."

But it isn't the first time that Chopra went into the Sporting Chance Clinic, founded by former England defender Tony Adams, to treat behavioural problems, such as alcohol, drugs and gambling addictions in professional and amateur sports people. Chopra is known to have a gambling problem and had been in rehab in 2008 while at AFC Sunderland.

Michael Chopra signs for Ipswich Town

Player of Indian origin Michael Chopra has been signed for a fee of 1,5 Million Pounds by English Championship side Ipswich Town from league rivals Cardiff City FC. Chopra has penned a three year contract with Ipswich Town.

Speaking to the Ipswich Town club website Chopra said, "I enjoyed my time at Cardiff but this is a new start for me at Ipswich and I'm looking forward to it."

"I spoke to the manager and was impressed with his plans for the club. I know some of the players here as well and from talking to them, it was clear there is real ambition at Ipswich. I can't wait to get going and the target is to help the club reach the Premier League."

Chopra leaves Cardiff after a two year second stint at the Welsh club and without gaining promotion to the Premier League, the ultimate aim of Cardiff City. It looks likely that Cardiff will have to spend less and reduce their wage bill. Chopra joins another club in the second tier of English football who have Premier League ambitions and he would hope would use him more as a first eleven player.

Ipswich Town manager Paul Jewell said about the signing, "Michael is a top quality striker with a proven track record when it comes to scoring goals. He is just the type of player we are looking for to help take this Club forward."

Ipswich Town interested to sign Michael Chopra

Player of Indian origin Michael Chopra could be on the way to leave Cardiff City FC after the Welsh club once more failed to gain promotion to the English Premier League. Following the sacking of manager Dave Jones and top striker Jay Bothroyd having left the club further players could be on the way out.

Championship rivals Ipswich Town are showing interest to sign Michael Chopra and have offered a transfer fee of 1 Million Pounds. Chopra didn't have the best of seasons though he played 37 matches and scored 11 goals, but there where injuries and the arrival of Craig Bellamy which pushed him down the pecking order.

Chopra had signed for Cardiff City from AFC Sunderland for 4 Million Pounds in 2009 and last year former Ipswich manager Roy Keane tried to sign the former Newcastle striker but the bid was turned down. Now Ipswich boss Paul Jewell is trying to sign Chopra once more, but many expect the transfer fee to be higher if Chopra does leave Cardiff.

It will be interesting to see if Chopra is sold before a new manager is appointed or if the club wait to decide Chopra's future, while also to try and push up what Ipswich pays for the striker.

Chopra out for the remainder of the season

Promotion chasing English Championship side Cardiff City FC will miss the services of their striker Michael Chopra for the rest of the season after Chopra suffered a hamstring tear over the weekend in the match against FC Barnsley.

An official club statement said, "Scan results have confirmed the worst. Michael has suffered a grade three hamstring tear and will be out for a period expected to be between 10 to 12 weeks, effectively ending any chance of his involvement in the 2010/11 Championship season run-in."

It actually started as a good day against Barnsley for Chopra as he completed 200 matches in the English leagues, but his injury hit season continued as he had to be taken off after only 25 minutes. So far it has been about ankle injuries, but this time it was a hamstring tear. And it ends Chops season in which he scored 11 goals in all competitions for the Bluebirds.

Chopra said via Twitter, "Totally devastated my season is over out for 10/12 weeks with grade 3 tear in my hamstring all about getting fit for next season."

For Cardiff City the loss of Chopra in the crucial season end is a big blow. And one will have to see in which division Cardiff play next season, which might also decide Chopra's future. Stay with Cardiff or move on to another side.

Chopra: I still want to play for India!

English Championship side Cardiff City FC striker Michael Chopra still has ambitions to play for Team India even after not being given a fast track Indian passport to represent the country at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Michael Chopra told Welsh media, "I'm still following my football dream at Cardiff and hope to step up to the international stage by representing India."

So one as Indian football fan one can still hope to see Chops in an India shirt in the future, but the All India Football Federation will need to take a more pro-active approach on the issue and get Chopra an Indian passport as a change of guards is likely in the coming month's in Team India.

Meanwhile Chopra has also been nominated for the British Asian Sports Awards. The 10th annual British Asian Sports Awards are split into eight categories, from junior sports personality for the under-15s to the main sports personality of the year. The handing over ceremony will be held on March 5 at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in London.

The BASAs panel of expert judges, who include former England cricketer Mark Ramprakash, Olympic Gold medallist Denise Lewis and the BBC's Football League Show presenter Manish Bhasin shortlisted Chopra from over 100 nominations.

Blackburn aiming to sign Chopra?

English Championship club Cardiff City FC striker Michael Chopra has been in the news back in India recently for showing interest to play for Team India ahead of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. But due to passport issues Chopra will not be playing for India in the Asian Cup, but lets see if it happens in the future.

And this piece of news has been tracked by new Blackburn Rovers owners Venky's out of Pune and now the Rao family, owners of the VH Group, are considering to bring the striker to Lancashire from Wales and also back to the Premiership. Especially the two Rao brothers think that Chopra could be a real asset for the Rovers in developing links between their new club and their home country of India.

Interestingly earlier the Rao's are said to have offered India captain Baichung Bhutia a contract for the second half of the Premier League, but our seasoned captain had turned down the offer knowing that the Premiership would be a stage too big for him at this age. The Rao's are looking at options on how to create a connect between Blackburn Rovers and India, and they see the need of an Indian player or a British player of Indian origin coming in to make it possible.

And currently there is no one better option then the former England Under-20 captain Michael Chopra. But Chopra hasn't been having his best of seasons for Cardiff City as he has dropped down the pecking order behind Craig Bellamy and Jay Bothroyd, but he still has an impressive record for the Bluebirds scoring 26 goals in 56 appearances. When last season Cardiff signed Chopra on a permanent deal they had to pay 4 Million Pounds to Sunderland for the boy from Newcastle, so they would surely look to recoup most of that fee if they let him go for a Premiership club.

The Rao's want to rebuild Blackburn Rovers after the departure of manager Sam Allardyce, they are looking to be a top five club in the near future, but I know it is a very tough ask without the necessary multi-million pound investment in the squad which could go into the hundreds of millions and on the other side they don't want to lose their focus on India. It will be interesting to see how they achieve both.

No Michael Chopra for India in Asian Cup

English Championship club Cardiff City FC striker Michael Chopra will not be playing for India in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup next month in Qatar. Sadly the AIFF top brass didn't make any pro-active attempt to fast track British citizen Chopra getting an Indian passport to be eligible under Indian law to represent the country.

Team India captain Baichung Bhutia when recently asked about Michael Chopra had said, "there aren't too many players at that level eligible for India." And Baichung's team mates thought similar that a player of Chopra's quality would surely help the national team in a tough competition like the AFC Asian Cup. And through the Football Players Association of India they tried to get something going, but it did not happen.

This was simply because the AIFF thought otherwise. AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das had said earlier this week, "One player cannot win a football match, it's a team game and Michael Chopra is no Lionel Messi, though he plays in England."

AIFF president Praful Patel had also said that getting Michael Chopra an Indian passport wasn't a top priority for the All India Football Federation. If not getting the best "Player of Indian Origin" a passport to represent India at the continental level, what would be?

I fear this is a lost chance for India to integrate a top talent into our national team set-up. Surely Chopra is no Messi but for Indian football he could surely be an asset in the years to come. Now lets hope after the Asian Cup is played the AIFF realise their mistake, they then take a more pro-active and welcoming approach to integrate Chopra. Then Team India will have to regroup after the Asian Cup with numerous senior international players set to retire and Chopra has stated that he is willing to play for India even if not getting a passport quick enough to play in the Asian Cup.

Michael Chopra: Wants to play for India!

There is good news ahead of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup for Indian football. English born "Player of Indian Origin" Michael Chopra has officially stated that he wants to play for the Indian national team! And for this purpose Michael will be travelling to Dubai over the weekend to meet Team India. And lets hope he can play for India in the Asian Cup and be an asset for our team.

Behind the scenes Michael's agents at Matchworld have been in touch with the All India Football Federation as well as national coach Bob Houghton to see how it could be worked out that Michael Chopra could play for India. But things are still early as there are a number of red tape issues still to be resolved regarding nationality eligibility. As per FIFA statutes Michael qualifies to play for India as his grand parents were born in India, but the Government of India rules of having to be an Indian citizen to represent India could delay the process.

Michael will meet up with our national Team coach Bob Houghton for talks in Dubai on Sunday, November 14; ahead of the national team's friendly against Kuwait. Michael will watch the match and discussion will take place with regards to his eligibility and he will also get to meet his new teammates.

Michael will travel with his representatives Kenny Moyes and Yogesh Joshee to the
training camp on Sunday and will return to commence training with Cardiff City FC in preparation for the clubs next Championship fixture thereafter.

Michael is extremely flattered that due to his Indian background he has been approached by a country who are at an exciting stage in their football development and looking to make a mark on the international stage for India.

Michael Chopra is a former England Junior international, a former England Under-20 captain, who has come through the youth development system at Newcastle United. Besides playing at Newcastle, he has also played at Sunderland AFC and on loan for FC Watford, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley FC.

Michael was the first South Asian footballer to score a goal in the English Premier League and has had a fruitful time at Cardiff City FC, who are pushing for Premiership promotion this year. Over the years Michael has scored more then 50 goals for the Bluebirds.

Besides representing Michael Chopra the agency of Matchworld also represent Sunil Chhetri and some other Indian player. Matchworld earlier this year made Sunil Chhetri's move to MLS side Kansas City Wizards possible.

As being the person who started the whole "Player of Indian Origin" search about a decade back and the search yielding no results so far or authorities not pushing for quality PIO's to be integrated into senior or junior national teams, it would be a delight to see Michael play for us. And as I have said a number of times in the past, I believe that a striker of his quality would be someone who can help our national team. Think about it, maybe next season we could have an Indian international in the Premier League.