FREDDIE Lindgren’s visa has officially been approved - and he will come straight into the Birmingham team for their Knockout Cup semi-final decider at Ipswich on Thursday (June 6, 7.30pm).
The Swede watched on from the pits when the two sides met in the West Midlands on Monday with the visitors grabbing a two point advantage at the death with a 46-44 win.
Lindgren then spun his first laps of the Perry Barr circuit in a decade with the hope he could be included at Ipswich later this week.
That will now be the case with last year’s World Championship runner-up replacing Zach Cook in the Curtis Sport Brummies line-up.
CEO Nigel Tolley said: “It’s been a very stressful few days and we remain desperately disappointed that Freddie couldn’t be involved in our home leg as planned.
“Nevertheless, whilst it’s a little later than we had first intended, we are thrilled that Freddie has now had the green light to finally race in Brummies colours.
“It’s just the boost we needed going into Thursday’s second leg and I’m sure Freddie will come straight in and help inspire his team-mates further.
“We’d like to thank Zach for his scoring efforts for the Brummies this year. It was going to be harsh on whoever we decided to replace but the reality is that someone had to go because the opportunity to include Freddie in our team was too good to turn down.
“After many lengthy discussions as a management team, Zach is the rider we have decided to let go and I have no doubts that he will be snapped up quickly elsewhere in the Premiership as he hasn’t done much wrong at all.”