The AIFF has reportedly put forth a list of three first-team players including talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri to represent India in the Asian Games 2022. But the Blue Tigers’ birth to the continental event is still unconfirmed as AIFF waits for a green light from the sports ministry for participation. The marquee multi-sport will be starting on 23 September in Hangzhou, China.
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As per the Asian Games regulation, a team can field only three players above the age of 23. Hence the AIFF has reportedly named Chhetri, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and defender Sandesh Jhingan to participate in the continental event. If Team India gets permission to participate in the Asian Games, it would end the country’s nine-year drought at the event. In 2014, India finished at the bottom of the group stage and 26th overall among the 29 participating teams.
The development was reported by PTI which stated, “The current national team has seven U-23 first team players and since three over-age players are allowed, skipper Chhetri, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and defender Sandesh Jhingan are all set to go for the Asian Games if their team gets permission.”
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The report also claimed that the AIFF has prepared a list of 50 under-23 players and forwarded it to the respective clubs. With this gesture, Team India wants to raise another pool of under-23 players, who could participate in the AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the King’s Cup in Thailand.
