Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan Missing From India Men's Asian Games 2023 Football Squad, AIFF President Requests Organisers for Their Accreditation: Report
The Indian men’s football team have been kept in Group A alongside hosts China, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Asian Games 2023 is slated to kick-start on September 23. The marquee event will be held in Hangzhou, China. India is set to field its men’s and women’s football teams in the games. The men’s team have been kept in Group A alongside hosts China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Asian Games 2023: Sunil Chhetri, Igor Stimac Lead Charge As AIFF Hope For A Strong Show
Men’s football at the 19th edition of the Asian Games will be an U-23 affair and a maximum of three senior players will be allowed to feature in each squad. The football tournament will witness 23 teams battling it out for the medals. India would look to give their all in the global tournament and secure a podium finish.
Kalyan Chaubey, who is the All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) joint secretary informed that Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and centre-back Sandesh Jhingan are going to the senior players in the 22-member squad for the Asian Games. Indian Football Team Placed in Group A for Round 2 of FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 Joint Qualifiers
“When we (AIFF's coaches, technical officials and support staff members and federation officials) had made a presentation to the sports ministry's officials requesting for the football teams' (men and women) clearance for the Asiad, we didn't realise that their names (Chhetri, Sandhu and Jhingan) were not in the original list of athletes sent to the organisers," Chaubey said.
"When I realised this (omission), being the head of the organisation (AIFF), I took up the matter personally to ensure that their names were added so that they could get the accreditation. Their names have been sent to the organisers. The people concerned who made the presentation to the ministry should have known about this. As the federation president, I needed to interfere,” he added.
However, the Times of India has reported that the senior trio of Chhetri, Sandhu and Jhingan have not been named in the list of athletes shared with the organisers of the Games. Thus, there seems to be a discrepancy between Kalyan Chaubey’s statements and the recent reports. Moroever, IOA and Chaubey were known to have personally requested the Asiad organisers to provide ‘accreditation' as a 'special case' to these players and a letter in this regard has been sent to the organisers. It will be interesting to see how the squad for the Asiad shapes up if the names of the veteran troika of players are missing.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 29, 2023 10:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).