Sunil Chhetri to lead makeshift football side to Asian Games as most players selected initially not released ISL clubs | Football News

Indian national team skipper Sunil Chhetri will lead a 17-member squad at the Hangzhou Asian Games with only nine of the 22 players initially requested coach Igor Stimac released Indian Super League (ISL) clubs for the event that falls outside the FIFA international window.
It is unclear whether Stimac and his coaching staff will be a part of the Asian Games after most of the players he was looking for after a successful SAFF Cup at home will be a part of their respective ISL teams, participating in the domestic league and the Asian Champions League/ AFC Cup tournaments. The Croatian had made it clear earlier that the Asian Games was an important tournament in the lead-up to the World Cup qualifiers and the AFC Asian Cup.
When Stimac had initially announced his 22-member squad in August, it was clear that the players included were either a part of the national team or just on its periphery. The Asian Games was considered a chance to expand the experience of the national pool players with closely-crunched-together international fixtures. But with the ISL starting on September 21, most clubs were unwilling to release their best Indian U-23 talent. The other two senior players that Stimac had selected were FC Goa’s Sandesh Jhingan and Bengaluru FC’s Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, both of whom were not released their respective clubs.

AIFF announces Men’s squad for Hangzhou Asian Games
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— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 13, 2023
Even out of the nine players remaining from the original squad, most are sporadic players for their clubs with the exception of Chhetri – who, at 37, has also not been a guaranteed starter for Bengaluru FC over the past year and has had to make way for a foreign striker at club level, but still manages to get vital minutes.
India will face China in their first game on September 19 followed games against Bangladesh (September 21) and Myanmar (September 24). The top two from each group will move onto the pre-quarterfinals, along with four of the best third-placed teams. While the team Stimac had asked for was strong enough on paper to make it to the pre-quarterfinals, the current squad carries an air of uncertainty with it.

While most of these players have not played together, what is even more problematic is the team composition. Narendar Gehlot and Sumit Rathi are the only defensive options in the squad. Instead of the usual three goalkeepers, only two have been confirmed the AIFF in Gurmeet Singh and Dheeraj Moirangthem. Out of the remaining players, most are wingers or forwards – positions for which ISL clubs usually employ either foreign players or the absolute best Indian talent.
“It has been a hectic time in the Indian football season. We have a tight schedule within a short period of time that was not easy to manage,” said AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey on the federation’s website. “There were situations which were unavoidable and demanded a great balancing act. It was never easy, but at the same time, I must reach out to FSDL (Football Sports Development Limited) and the clubs, thanking them for making it possible.”Most Read
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Giving a possible explanation as to why the Asian Games was not included in the AIFF’s calendar for the current year, Chaubey said, “We must remember that there are general elections coming, and to avoid the adverse weather conditions in certain parts of the country, we had to adjust the schedule, and shorten the domestic calendar to an extent that these things don’t hamper the quality of the games and put unnecessary pressure on the players.”

Initially, reports had emerged that nine of the senior players that were part of the national team for the King’s Cup in Thailand were asked to stay back as the AIFF continued to negotiate with the clubs, hoping to secure their release. But the furore over players’ travel being delayed led the AIFF to ensure all of them returned to their bases in India.
Squad:
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.