SOULEYMANE Coulibaly has at last been given permission to play for Partick Thistle two months after he joined the club.
After a frustrating time for the player, FIFA granted a temporary International Transfer Certificate (ITC) which allowed the Ivory Coast striker's registration with the SFA to be completed.
Coulibaly walked out on Egyptian side in Ahly in May 2017, citing fears for his safety, just four months after moving from Kilmarnock in a £800,000 deal.
He has been unable to play football since.
Al Ahly refused to release his registration and the 23-year-old was fined almost $1.5m by FIFA, which was to be awarded to the Egyptian giants.
And when he signed for Thistle in August, the Egyptian FA turned down an international clearance request, which is when the SFA stepped in.
Coulibaly said: “I am absolutely delighted to be allowed to play football again and I cannot wait to get back on the pitch.
"It has been a very difficult time for me but I just need to put that behind me now and concentrate on playing the game that I love. I haven’t played a proper match in quite some time now so I know there is still a lot of hard work to do before I will be back to my best but I am determined that I will get there.
“I would like to thank the club for all the support and I hope to be able to repay some of the faith they have shown in me as soon as possible.”
Alan Archibald will be thankful this saga has come to an end and could give Coulibaly his debut against Championship leaders Ross County who travel to Firhill on Saturday.
Coulibaly was a cult hero at Kilmarnock where he scored some spectacular goals - he got 11 in 26 games - before moving to Egypt.
Partick Thistle Chief Executive, Gerry Britton, in a statement said: “It’s great news and we are ecstatic to finally get Souleymane properly registered to play with Partick Thistle Football Club.
"He has obviously been through a tough time recently and, having spoken to him on numerous occasions since he first arrived at the club, I know he is simply desperate to get back playing football.
"It has been a long road and a lot of hard work but I would like to thank the Scottish FA for its assistance in the process and hopefully Souleymane can go on to have a very successful season as a Thistle player.”
Coulibaly moved to Italy with his family at 13 and was signed by Tottenham after winning the Golden Boot award for being top goalscorer at the 2011 Under-17 World Cup.
He never played a first-team game and had spells with Bari and Peterborough United before joining Kilmarnock in the summer of 2016.
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