PANJIM: All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey will surely pull all the stops to enable India’s participation in football in the forthcoming Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.
Given Kalyan’s connections, the decorated post he enjoys, especially that of the IOA joint secretary’s, and his close connection with the powers that be, especially as shown with the recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, where he smartly showcased Indian football’s “recent uprise” with India having won three trophies in four months, it will be a big shot in the arm if India is brought under the cover of exception by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and thus allowed to participate in the Asiad. Ultimately, football will be the winner.
It is a letter from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that has raised doubts over the Indian football team’s participation in the forthcoming Asian Games.
The letter, dated July 10 and sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all the national sports federations, states: “For team events only those sports which have achieved a ranking up to 8th among participating countries in Asia in the last one year should be considered for participation in the Asian Games 2022.”
However, the letter has a rider though. It says that if relaxations of the criteria are recommended with justifiable reasons, the ministry may consider to take “appropriate decisions.”
India figure at the 18th spot in Asia and have missed the Games in 1990, 1994 and 2018.
Football administrators, afficionados as well as players, however, are confident that given the new professional environment and the new vision at the Football House in Dwarka, the government could perhaps be inclined to give an exemption, for which the AIFF is expected to apply for to make a strong case for the same.
India’s case for participation could be certainly strengthened due to the National team’s superlative performance recently. The federation would consider that it is a fit case to be considered given the excellent recent performances and that India is now ranked 100th in the latest FIFA rankings. It is good results in 2023 that enabled India to improve their rating points to 1204.9
Meanwhile, coach Igor Stimac also made an appeal for an exception to be made for the football team to participate in Asian Games. He wrote “A humble appeal and sincere request to Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Mr Anurag Thakur to kindly allow our football team to participate in the Asian Games. We will fight for our nation’s pride and the flag. Jai Hind.”
Stimac also touched on PM Modi’s speech in Paris this week, in which the Prime Minister spoke about the popularity of French star Kylian Mbappe in India. “Your speech about football and Mbappe in your recent visit to France also touched all Indians dreaming and rooting for Indian football,” wrote the Indian coach.
Stimac also wrote about the importance of providing this stage to the youth team which has worked hard in recent months, who are being denied due to the ranking of the senior team. Stimac was passionate in his appeal, writing “I wanted to bring to your immediate attention that our U-17 team from 2017, which also gave a great performance at the U-23 World Cup qualifiers and is one very talented team, is now being deprived from participating in the Asian Games. This team really needs and deserves the participation.”
Originally scheduled to be held Septmber 10 to 25 last year, the Huangzhou Asian Games will take place this year after it was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stimac also wrote about the importance of providing this stage to the youth team which has worked hard in recent months, who are being denied due to the ranking of the senior team.
Stimac was passionate in his appeal, writing “I wanted to bring to your immediate attention that our U-17 team from 2017, which also gave a great performance at the U-23 World Cup qualifiers and is one very talented team, is now being deprived from participating in the Asian Games. This team really needs and deserves the participation.”
