Indian men’s football team’s three senior players - Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhinghan will not travel with the Blue Tigers for the Asia Games in Hanghouzu, China. The footballing events at the Asiad will be starting on September 19, which isn’t under FIFA’s international break. Hence Indian Super League teams of Chhetri, Sandhu and Jhinghan - Bengaluru FC and Mohan Bagan Super Giants haven’t permitted their players to travel.
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The development was reported by the Times of India, which shared about a virtual emergency meeting of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) executive committee (EC) on Monday evening to discuss the under-23 team's participation in the Asiad after Indian Super League (ISL) clubs refusal to release players for national duty. Rather the players will be bound to compete in the Indian Super League, which kicks off on September 21.
Earlier, AIFF had communicated to Sports Authority of India about withdrawing the men's team in these problems. But later it was agreed to send a team to China. The report further claimed AIFF will have a meeting with the ISL clubs and request to release two players each from their teams.
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But despite clubs and AIFF reaching an agreement to release players of their choice, The Indian Olympic Association will need to make a new application to the Olympic Council of Asia about approval for the different football squad. The Blue Tigers are set to leave for Hangzhou on September 16, hence the AIFF and IOA have just five days to get the paperwork done.
