Brisbane Roar veteran Jack Hingert has been called up by Sri Lanka for an international tournament next month.
Hingert will join up with Sri Lanka – 204th in the FIFA men’s rankings – in March as they prepare to face Bhutan, Central African Republic and Papua New Guinea in the Four Nations Tournament.
Hingert, whose father was born in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and still has family in the country, previously received a call-up to the national team set-up for a closed training camp in Qatar in September 2022 but is yet to receive a full cap for the country.
Sri Lanka – coached by former Manchester City defender Andy Morrison – kick-off their Four Nations campaign against Papua New Guinea on March 23 before facing Bhutan three days later.
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Socceroos legend Tim Cahill was this month seen with Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) president Jaswar Umar, with the Australian to “support building Sri Lanka national team and will assist building the technical structure”.
“It was something I wanted to do from the moment that they first contacted me,” Hingert told brisbaneroar.com.au at the time of his call-up in 2022.
“From the moment they asked me, my dad’s said, ‘you should do it, it’s something the family are going to be really proud of’.
“Since then, I’ve had all my cousins and other family members calling me saying how proud they are and messaging me about it all excited. I feel very proud that I got called up and proud that I’ve been part of it.”
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With international fixtures few and far between, the Four Nations tournament provides Sri Lanka, and possibly Hingert, with a good chance to showcase their abilities on the national stage given the Golden Army’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup have already been dashed after they were knocked out by Yemen in the first round of qualifying.
Sri Lanka were meant to feature at the 2023 SAFF Championship, however they did not take part after FIFA suspended the FFSL due to government interference.
“The Bureau considered that the circumstances in which elections for a new FFSL Executive Committee took place on 14 January 2023 constituted undue interference by a third party in accordance with the FIFA Statutes,” a FIFA statement read in January last year.
FIFA lifted its ban on the FFSL in September 2023 and Sri Lanka’s loss to Yemen marked the country’s return to international football after almost a year.
A two-time Isuzu UTE A-League champion, Hingert has featured in 15 games for Brisbane this season, scoring once.
Hingert and the Roar will host Western United on Friday night.
