Indian football team unlikely to play at Asian Games for second successive edition

The Indian football team is unlikely to play in the Asian Games for the second consecutive time as it does not meet the Sports Ministry’s criteria of being among the top-8 sides in the continent.

It’s given rise to an ironic situation where the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which is headed by Kalyan Chaubey, will hope for some leniency from the Indian Olympic Association, of which he is the acting CEO and the joint secretary. The AIFF will also hope that the government grants an exemption to their rule.

The AIFF had shortlisted 40 players for the tournament, which is meant for Under-23 players with 3 allowed in the squad above the specified age, and put senior coach Igor Stimac in charge of the team.

The Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8 but the football competition will begin on September 19. Saturday was the last day for the countries to send their final entries.

In a letter sent to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all the National Sports Federations (NSFs), the Sports Ministry has said that “for team events, only those sports which have achieved a ranking up to eighth among participating countries of Asia in the last one year should be considered for participation in Asian Games”.

India is currently in the 18th spot among countries under the Asian Football Confederation.

The AIFF said it will appeal to the Sports Ministry to reconsider the decision and AIFF general secretary Shaji Prabhakaran seemed confident that the team would get a nod from the IOA.

“We will explain to them why the team needs to take part in the tournament. We will tell that we have been doing well and a tournament like the Asian Games will definitely be a good experience for our players. I’m