The Country vs Club football debate continues and takes a new course. As the team prepares for the U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers, All Indian Football Federation (AIFF)President Kalyan Chaubey wants the start of the Indian Super League (ISL) to be delayed by 10 days. With dates clashing, the AIFF Prez will try to convince the FSDL to defer the start of ISL by 10 days so that India can field their strongest team in Asiads.
The clash with the clubs has been ongoin for quite some time with the clubs refusing to release players for the Asian Games. The AIFF however did finalise a 22-member squad which includes 3 senior players Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, and Sandesh Jhingan as per the norms.
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As per the schedule, the Asian Games are slated to start on 19th September while the ISL is set to kick start on 21st September. With the direct clash in the schedule, Kalyan Chaubey wants the ISL to start 10 days later as he wants players to focus on the Asian Games which is currently the National priority.
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“I’ll be speaking to people in the FSDL to defer the league by 10 days and start it sometime in October so that we can field a full-strength team at the Asiad. The honour of representing the country on the global stage is above all. The national interest should come first and that’s what I would try to explain to clubs and FSDL,” Kalyan Chaubey told The Times of India.
“It’s win-win situation for everyone (if the ISL is postponed by 10 days) and cooperation from everyone is required. The clubs can start the league with their full squads without having to miss out on their services. So, instead of September 21 start, get the league underway, possibly after 10 days. This explanation by clubs that the Asian Games falls outside the FIFA international match window can’t form the basis to deny our players a chance to represent the nation on the global stage. One must understand that India comes first. I’ll speak to the club owners in my personal capacity as an AIFF president to release the players in national interest,” the AIFF President informed The Times of India.
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The AIFF head believes and understands the club’s point of view as to why they are unwilling to release their players. But Chaubey also believes that the Nation’s purpose comes first and that is why he will ask the FSDL to defer the start of the top league of the country by 10 days. The Blue Tigers kickstart their Asiad campaign against hosts China on the 19th of September and then go on to play Bangladesh and Myanmar on the 21st and 24th of September respectively.
“But no club is bigger than the nation. That’s the bottomline. So, deferring the league is the only logical option available to them and it’s a request from the AIFF president. If need be, I’ll formally write to FSDL in this regard,” concluded Chaubey.
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