If the sports ministry permits the participation of the Blue Tigers in the continental championship, the AIFF intends to send its first squad to the Asian Games under the direction of ace striker and captain Sunil Chhetri.
The Blue Tigers are presently rated 18th in Asia, however according to a guideline of the sports ministry, only the top eight teams in a given sport are permitted to compete.
The Jakarta Games 2018 version of the competition did not let the Blue Tigers to compete.
“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 the team gets permission,” a source with knowledge of the situation stated.
AIFF has compiled a list of 50 players under the age of 23 and sent it to the appropriate clubs. The purpose, according to the sources, is to develop a new pool of under-23 athletes who might be employed for the King’s Cup in Thailand and the AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The national squad, coached by Croatian Igor Stimac, won the SAFF tournament where it competed against Lebanon and Kuwait, and has since reentered the FIFA sub-100 club.
At the recent SAFF Championships, which were held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, the Indian squad led by Stimac achieved some outstanding accomplishments.
Chhetri took the lead and dominated the scoring statistics throughout the competition with five goals, including a hat-trick against Pakistan in the first game.
In the group round matches against Nepal and Kuwait, he also scored, assisting India in moving on to the knockout round before finally defeating Kuwait on penalties.
Stimac had requested that the nation’s PM take into consideration sending the Indian squad to the Asian Games in a letter.
The continental tournament is scheduled to start in Hangzhou, China, on September 23.
