Canada-based midfielder Shamit Shome has initiated the procedure to play for Bangladesh, his agent confirmed today, marking a significant development in the Bangladesh Football Federation's (BFF) ongoing efforts to attract diaspora talent after roping in Sheffield United midfielder Hamza Choudhury recently.

The 27-year-old, currently a regular for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League, was previously capped twice in friendlies for the Canada senior team in 2020.

Born in Alberta to Bangladeshi parents -- Manas Shome (father) and Nandita Shome, hailing from Bishwanath, Sylhet -- Shome has represented Canada at U-20 and U-21 levels and carved out a steady club career after starting professionally with FC Edmonton in 2016.

Despite initial hesitation, Shome has now expressed a clear desire to represent Bangladesh, inspired in part by the recent switch of Hamza – who had, likewise, played for England's youth team.

"He has a Canadian passport, so we are trying to form his Bangladeshi passport. His parents have not renewed their Bangladeshi passport since 1993, so everyone's passport has to be worked on," said Shamit's agent Amit Hassan, adding that the birth certificates of the player and his parents need to be made prior to the passport as well.

"The documents will be forwarded to FIFA afterwards. Hopefully the birth certificate will be finalised by Sunday at the earliest next week.

"Then he will visit the Canadian embassy and if everything works out well, he'll be joining the [Bangladesh] team in June," he informed further. 

If completed in time -- although it appears to be unlikely, given the procedure -- Shome could feature in Bangladesh's AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign in their key fixture against Singapore in June 10 at National Stadium in Dhaka, providing a significant boost to the midfield ranks.