Indian football’s hopes of Asian Games participation in tatters after IOA meeting

Following an Indian Olympic Association meeting on Friday, the national football team’s fate was all but sealed as chief Narinder Batra stated in a letter (which Scroll.in has access to) addressed to the sports ministry that only teams ranked within the top four in the continent gain entry to the Asian Games in Indonesia.

Stephen Constantine’s team is currently ranked 14th in Asia and 97th in the latest Fifa rankings. India, though, progressed to the AFC Cup after a gap of seven years. Batra had earlier dropped the men’s and women’s football teams for the Asian Games, which will be held at Indonesia in August.

“You have to be at a certain level now. You cannot go there to finish as also-rans. You need to be visible. You have to earn your place in the contingent. Those days when these things were overlooked are gone,” Batra had said.

The IOA had announced that it would send a 524-member team but Batra and Co wielding the axe meant that several athletes have dragged the Indian Olympic chief to court.

Following discussions within the IOA, Batra stated that only an individual athlete ranked in the top six or a team ranked in the top eight will be up for selection, and that their names have already been forwarded.

The sports ministry had earlier relaxed the criteria for selection as it stated that performance over the last six months would be taken into consideration, handing a glimmer of hope for the football, volleyball, and the basketball teams.

The IOA ran into hot water after it had dropped 20 athletes from the Pencak Silat team, alleging fake credentials, prompting the national federation to threaten legal action. The men’s handball team was cleared after the federation moved court.

In the original squad announced by IOA, six Sambo athletes– two male and four female – were included but the squad was just cut down to one athlete.