Paperwork Snafu Benches Ben Doak
Ben Doak’s absence during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Yokohama F. Marinos left fans scratching their heads—was he nursing another injury, or perhaps on his way out of the club? Turns out, the real culprit wasn’t his body or the transfer window, but a passport blunder that blocked him from playing.
The Scottish teenager, a familiar face from Liverpool’s earlier friendlies—with handy appearances against Preston North End, Stoke City, and AC Milan—wasn’t even on the squad list for this one. That struck plenty of people as odd, especially since Doak has been fighting his way back from a hamstring issue that ended his loan at Middlesbrough early last season. But he’d recovered enough to make the pre-season squad, so what gives?
Visa Drama in Japan
Here’s what happened. When the team flew to Japan, Doak’s paperwork failed to clear one essential hurdle: the work visa. Without it, he was stuck on a standard visitor visa. That might sound like a minor technical thing, but in Japan, that’s the difference between training and actually going out to play. Visitor visas allow you to join practice and even show up in promotional events—but you’re strictly banned from playing official matches. That’s exactly what reporters like Ian Doyle from the Liverpool Echo and Lewis Steele (sharing live updates on X) confirmed—no injury drama, no drama off the pitch. Just classic travel admin headaches.
This left Doak unable to use the game time to catch the eye of Liverpool’s new manager Arne Slot, which will have been frustrating for a player who’s desperate to show what he can do after coming back from injury. The team quickly set the record straight to squash any rumors about him being benched for fitness reasons or being lined up for a transfer. Nope—just a paperwork fumble.
Now the club’s admin team will be racing to sort out the passport issue before the next round of pre-season games. This hiccup is a reminder of the kind of behind-the-scenes roadblocks teams can run into during global tours, no matter how sharp things look on the training ground. For Doak, it’s a waiting game, but Liverpool will want all paperwork ironed out so talent isn’t stuck watching from the sidelines again.
