VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have parted ways with defender Ali Adnan following extended visa issues.
The club announced Saturday that it had agreed to a “mutual contract termination” with the 27-year-old Iraqi international.
Adnan has not played for the ‘Caps (2-6-2) this season because issues with his U.S. visa kept the left back in Canada when pandemic-related border restrictions forced the team to relocate to Sandy, Utah.
Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said in a statement that the visa issues were “out of all of our control,” and after a number of discussions, the club and Adnan “agreed to go in different directions.”
Adnan came to Vancouver on loan from Serie A side Udinese in March 2019 and the move was made permanent that summer when he signed on as a designated player.
He played 53 games for the Whitecaps, scoring three goals and recording 10 assists, and fans voted him the club’s player of the year in 2020.