After plenty of speculations and requests, the All India Football Federation announced a 17-man squad for the 19th Asian Games set to get underway from September 19. AIFF’s decision might have raised many eyebrows but it should be noted that they have their hands tied in front of ISL clubs.
The Indian team still has room for 5 players and in context the Blue Tigers are actually short on players. Only one senior player received the green light to go ahead and represent the nation and who else it could have been other than Sunil Chhetri.
AIFF announces Men's squad for Hangzhou Asian Games
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He will come in as the only player Igor Stimac wished for in his team. In fact only 9 of the 22 players demanded by Stimac were released by India’s top-tier football clubs. Since the very first time Football featured in Asian Games (2002), the age limit was set at U-23 and allowing only 3 over age players.
Among the most probable 2 out of 3 of those would have been Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who are under contract with FC Goa and Bengaluru FC respectively while Chhetri got released by the latter club which is not surprising as he hasn’t been a guaranteed starter over the period of last year.
But while many would think that it is the fault of all ISL club’s but they too have a reason to stand infront of the players. While the new season of Club football in India starts from September 21, the Asian Games will begin 2 days before.
Meaning the continental event falls out of the International break or window in accordance with FIFA. Most of club football around the world returns this weekend after 2 weeks of International matches. And ISL clubs are not willing to let their core player go away in the very first matchday of the season.
Few of the clubs will be involved in the Asian Champions League and AFC Cup tournaments while other outfit’s main aim will be to win the Indian Super League. Head coach Igor Stimac will be disappointed to have got just 9 out of the 22 ISL players he demanded.
The Croat considered Asian Games as an imperative tournament with respect to the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. India’s selected squad for the Continental event looks rather more concerning than confident for a variety of reasons.
Many of these players haven’t had previous experience playing together, the team composition poses an even greater concern. Within the squad, only Narendar Gehlot and Sumit Rathi are available as defensive options. Unlike the typical inclusion of three goalkeepers, the AIFF has only confirmed two, namely Gurmeet Singh and Dheeraj Moirangthem.
Among the remaining players, the majority occupy positions as wingers or forwards, roles for which ISL clubs typically rely on either foreign players or the very best Indian talent.
With all such concerning red flags, India will play their opening match against China on September 19, followed by ties against Bangladesh and Myanmar on September 21 and 24 respectively. Below is the 17-man squad announced by AIFF.
Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Sumit Rathi, Narender Gahlot, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Samuel James, Rahul KP, Abdul Rabeeh Anjukandan, Ayush Dev Chhetri, Bryce Miranda, Azfar Noorani, Rahim Ali, Vincy Bareto, Sunil Chhetri, Rohit Danu, Gurkirat Singh, Aniket Jadhav.
