Acting AIFF Secretary General M Satyanarayan has refuted the reports of the Indian Football Team not playing or participating in the Kings Cup and the Merdeka Cup later this year. The King’s cup is hosted by Thailand FA while Malaysia FA organise the Merdeka Cup to commemorate their independence.
Will India compete in King’s Cup and the Merdeka Cup?
“Neither the Merdeka Cup or nor the King’s Cup has contacted us, neither we have said anything. So we are not discussing that right now,” said M Satyanarayan speaking to Insidesport exclusively.
It was earlier reported Indian Football Team will not compete in the 2024 King’s Cup or Merdeka Cup. India’s new coach would most likely choose to play the InterContinental Cup/Tri-Nations’ Cup at home in the September/October window to better India’s FIFA ranking which has slumped to 124. However, AIFF’s acting secretary General said that these decisions are yet to be made, with India yet to find a replacement for Igor Stimac.
When will the new Indian Football Team coach Finalised?
AIFF terminated head coach Igor Stimac following the Indian Football Team’s exit from the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Round 2. They finished third in their group, trailing Kuwait and Qatar. To progress, India needed to win at least one of their remaining two qualifying matches. However, they only managed a 0-0 draw against Kuwait in Kolkata and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Qatar away from home.
AIFF earlier opened applications for the coveted position of Head Coach for the Men’s Senior and U23 National Teams. The deadline to fill out this application is July 3, 2024. To date more than 200 applicants have applied for the role, However, it remains to be seen how soon the federation can bring in someone to hold Indian Football’s sinking ship.
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