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The essential issue regards Thomas' appearances for the Honduran under 23 international team. In a bid to place Honduras on hte international football map, it was decided that Thomas should play for the under-23 side and help them gain qualification to the Olympics in Bejing this August.
This goal was duly reached with Thomas captaining this side that has made Honduran history. However that was not enough for the British government who deem for non-European Union players to be granted a work permit, they have to have played in 75% of their country's recent international fixtures.
Clearly Thomas had been unable to achieve this objective with his commitments for the under 23 squad. Despite this, the Olimpia midfielder has already 16 full international caps to his name.
Latics boss Steve Bruce has expected Thomas to form a strong central midfield partnership with Wilson Palacios, but instead has had to turn his attentions elsewhere, leaving Thomas with a shattered dream.
Bruce said: "We're bitterly disappointed at the decision. Hendry is gutted...he was desperate to come here and we wanted him. He's a real talent and I believe he would have added plenty of quality to our squad."
What a shame that such an employment law should get in the way of this young mans dream. After many years of hard work and dedicatino to his training and development, it is a hard blow to take, especially in the manner it has been dealt.
It is however expected that following Thomas' participation in the Olympics for Honduras, he will go on to play for the full national team, and as soon as the desired critieria are achieved, his Premiership dream will be realised and he will join Wilson Palacios and Maynor Figueroa in the Wigan Athletic squad.
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