Here we go: Football teams are going to Asian Games

PTI

New Delhi, July 26

The Indian men’s and women’s football teams are set to participate in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, after the Sports Ministry decided to relax the existing selection criteria.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had earlier refused to clear the Indian football teams for the Asian Games on the ground that they were not ranked in the top-8 in Asia. The men’s team is currently 18th in Asia, while the women’s side is ranked 11th.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) then appealed to the Sports Ministry to allow the men’s and women’s sides to take part in the prestigious event with men’s senior team head coach Igor Stimac also seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention.

“Keeping in mind their latest performances in recent times, the Ministry decided to grant the relaxation,” Sports Minister Anurag Thakur tweeted.

The men’s team has returned to the top-100 in the FIFA rankings, having won the SAFF Championship and Intercontinental Cup. The women’s team has also done well, beating Kyrgyzstan twice in the Olympics Qualifiers Round 1.

Since 2002, football in the Asian Games has been an under-23 affair with three players above that age being permitted in a team. The AIFF had earlier planned that Stimac would take an under-23 side to the Games after the King’s Cup in Thailand. But the AIFF now wants to send its first team, led by skipper Sunil Chhetri, to the Asian Games. The AIFF has prepared a list of 50 U-23 players and forwarded it to the respective clubs. The idea is to raise another pool of U-23 players who could be used for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the King’s Cup.

#China #Football #Indian Olympic Association IOA