The Indian football team set to travel to China for the Asian Games 2023, will likely miss the presence of head coach Igor Stimac for the event in Hangzhou.
The Blue Tigers get their Asian Games challenge underway on the 19th of September as they take on hosts China, and will be guided by India U23 coach Clifford Miranda.
The Asian Games is a U23 tournament, which grants the exception of three players over the age category to be named on the list. India had named skipper Sunil Chhetri, veteran defender Sandesh Jhingan and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as the three players over the age limit.
However, reports that emerged on Wednesday suggest that the experienced trio might not be able to join up with the national contingent due to ISL teams not willing to release their players ahead of the upcoming season, scheduled to begin on the 21st of September.
It is being reported that the ISL clubs withheld the release of players on the grounds that the Asiad is not part of the FIFA international window.
Croatian Stimac took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to express his views on the way forward for Indian football.
Target or honest fighter for the betterment of Indian football?The time is coming to put all cards on the table and see how much and who really cares about football in this country.
Give it a thought before making up your judgment and thanks once again for your support. pic.twitter.com/SfCaargLlz
— Igor Štimac (@stimac_igor) September 12, 2023
His straight-up post has garnered attention and the AIFF has reportedly issued a show-cause notice.
The Indian football team has had a year to remember as they shot up in the FIFA World Rankings, breaching the top-100 mark, and are placed 99th in the list.
The spike in the ranking is thanks to the phenomenal work done by the Blue Tigers and Stimac in winning three titles since the beginning of the year, namely the SAFF Championship, Intercontinental Trophy and the Tri-nation Series.
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