Indian national football team coach, Stephen Constantine, revealed on Saturday that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has not received any official confirmation regarding the team's participation in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games to be held in Jakarta in August.
Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday's Intercontinental Cup final, the Englishman said, “From the snippets of news I'm getting, the Indian Olympic Committee and the government have decided to send us to the Asian Games. However, they have not officially told us. We have not received anything in writing.”
A source close to the development confirmed to Sportstar that while the AIFF hasn't received anything in writing, they have been intimated informally. “We have been told, informally, that the Indian football team will participate at the Asian Games. We're expecting the IOA to officially announce it in a press conference sometime in the next week or so,” said the source.
Read: A Borussia Dortmund story in the making for Indian football
Hoping that the decision materialises soon, Constantine said, “If that's the case, I'm very thankful. It's a great move by them and will certainly give our boys even more added exposure.”
He also added that he would hold a preparatory camp in July for the same. Constantine had made an appeal to the government earlier in the week to let the team participate in the competition. “If the government is listening, send us to the Asian games. It’s an U-23 event and we have 11 players in this squad who are below 23. The benefits the players will gain from the Asian Games will be huge,” he had said.
Looks like Constantine's appeals haven't fallen on deaf ears after all.
[ad_2]
Source link
No comments:
Post a Comment