India national football team coach Igor Stimac’s name is missing from the Asian Games squad which is also short by five players. In a country of 1.4 billion, the Indian football team could not find 22 players for the squad.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday released a list of 17 players who will travel to Hangzhou. Tournament rules allow a team to name a maximum of 22 players in the squad.
Football superstar Sunil Chhetri is the only known face in a squad made up of inexperienced players like Sumit Rathi (Mohun Bagan) and Gurkirat Singh (Mumbai City FC).
Senior national team coach Stimac was expected to travel but now there are serious doubts if he would board the flight.
The AIFF was forced to name a second-string side because the clubs refused to release 22 players. From the initial list, only nine were made available.
“It’s a pity that we could not name 22 players. Clubs did not act in the national interest,” a senior AIFF official told The Telegraph on Wednesday night.
“A decision on Stimac will be taken on Thursday. If he does not agree to travel then it could be either Mahesh Gawli (national team assistant coach) or Clifford Miranda (India under-23 coach),” the official added.
“The clubs could have released players. AIFF members are not happy with the stand the clubs took,” another official added.
Stimac desperately wanted his team for the Asian Games and what will be his next action remains to be seen.
The Asian Games football competition is not part of the Fifa calendar and that’s why the clubs are not legally bound to release players. The squad has only two goalkeepers in Gurmeet Singh and Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and an injury to one of them could make matters worse for India.
Bengaluru FC who had six players in the initial list released two — Chhetri and Rohit Danu, while Bagan (Rathi) and Mumbai City (Gurkirat) let go one each. East Bengal refused to release midfielders Naorem Mahesh Singh and defender Lalchungnunga.