A Burnaby soccer player with dual Canadian and Croatian nationalities has announced a switch in his soccer allegiances.
On Wednesday, Aug. 21, Niko Sigur, who was born and grew up in Burnaby, said he would be leaving Croatia's national team and joining Canada.
In May 2023, Sigur was called up to the Croatia U21s to represent the country at the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He was also called up by the senior Canadian men's national team, but chose to play for Croatia.
"It was an honour to represent Croatia, which is a football superpower and which is my family's homeland, but with the passage of time I felt that I wanted to represent the country where I grew up and started my football career, Canada," read a translated statement posted to the Croatian Football Federation's official X account (formerly known as Twitter).
"I appreciate the open communication and understanding of this decision by HNS — and I thank the coaches and teammates in the national team for the pleasant time I spent as a young Croatian national team player.
"I will always be a big fan of Croatia, to which I wish a lot of luck and success."
20-godišnji Niko Kristian Sigur odlučio je promijeniti nogometno državljanstvo te u budućnosti predstavljati Kanadu.
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) August 21, 2024
Na temelju dvojnog državljanstva, Sigur je imao mogućnost igrati za Hrvatsku ili Kanadu te je prošle godine odabrao predstavljati Hrvatsku, za koju je nastupao u… pic.twitter.com/RAm2Grk8rv
The now 20-year-old played for Mountain United FC in Burnaby, where he won the 2016 B.C. provincial championship and 2018 BCSPL League Cup.
He was selected to play for the Whitecaps FC Academy, where he won the USSDA Northwest Division championship in 2018.
Sigur attended Notre Dame Regional Secondary where he was part of the 2019 AA provincial championship team.
Sigur represented York University in 2021 for his collegiate career.
"We are sorry for this outcome because we believe in Niko's potential and we saw him as a player who is a candidate for the national team," Croatia's A and U-21 national team technical director Stipe Pletikosa said.
"Of course, we understand that such a change in thinking can occur in a young person and we respect that he admitted in time both to himself and us that he wants to represent the Canada he grew up in.
"We thank him for his contribution to the young national team, and of course we wish him good luck and success in his football career."
Canada Soccer has yet to release a statement regarding Sigur's decision.
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