Brighton manager Graham Potter has said that he will allow Percy Tau to play for South Africa at the Tokyo Olympics.
Last week Tau was named in 40-man preliminary squad for men’s football tournament at The Games by the South Africa Football Association.
If he is named in the final squad the 26-year-old would be one of South Africa’s three permitted ‘overage’ players, with rest of the of players having to be under-23.
“We will speak with Percy about it – but if a player is selected for his country then we are happy for that,” Potter insisted.
“We should support that and it’s a big moment for him in his career and his family. So I would say yes I’d be happy for him and then it’s about what he wants to do as well.”
South Africa qualified for the Olympics by grabbing third place at the 2019 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt as they beat Ghana on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
They will be joined in Tokyo by the Under-23 Nations Cup winners Egypt and runners-up Ivory Coast.
Tau was recalled to Brighton in January from a loan spell at Belgian side Anderlecht and made his debut for the Premier League side, nearly two-and-a-half-years after signing for them, in an FA cup tie later that month.
Since then he has played four more times for Brighton, but is still looking for his first goal in English football.
His most recent games were Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in March as he scored in a 1-1 draw with Ghana before ending up on the end of a 2-0 loss to Sudan that saw South Africa fail to qualify for next year’s delayed finals in Cameroon
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