Once the official schedule for the remainder of the season is revealed, head coach of the Indian Football Team Igor Stimac’s frustration over the alleged lack of support from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and FSDL, its marketing partners, is guaranteed to worsen.
The national coach has advocated strongly for lengthy training camps, especially before major competitions like the 2023 Asian Cup and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Shaji Prabhakaran, the general secretary of the AIFF, has suggested that he is not truthful.
“This season is a difficult one where we have to fix a lot of things and we cannot expect that everyone will get what they wish for,” AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran told TOI. “Such problems won’t be there every season. It’s every coach’s dream to have players at their disposal for the maximum time, but we have to strike a balance. We have to grow our leagues and focus on the national team as well. Given the situation, we have to find the best solution, without negatively impacting anything.”
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Sources claim that Stimac will likely be given a week to get the team ready for the away World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on November 16. Prior to returning home for the match on November 21 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar against the Asian champions Qatar. It is anticipated that the Indian Super League (ISL) will begin on September 21 and end either on November 7 or 8 in order to accommodate the World Cup qualification season.
Prabhakran predicted that the Asian Cup training camp “won’t be more than three weeks.” ISL will take a break before to Christmas, giving Stimac “about three weeks” to prepare for India’s match against Australia on January 13 in the Asian Cup. Stimac had required that the training camp be at least four weeks long for the continental showpiece.
However, the AIFF insists that clubs are subject to their own restrictions when releasing players for extended training camps. The camps, particularly when they involve competitive games, are outside of the FIFA international match window.
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