The Indian football team’s preparations for the upcoming Asian Games has been dealt a massive blow, with ISL clubs not releasing many key national team players for the continental event. Thirteen players from the original 22-member squad, which was announced last month, were not released by their respective players. The absent players included senior defender Sandesh Jhingan and starting goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Despite many key players missing out on the tournament, star striker Sunil Chhetri will be making it to the Asian Games, choosing country over club due to the Asian Games. Speaking to PTI, an AIFF official said, “He (Chhetri) is such a reputed player and it’s not a full strength team. But he stuck his neck out and said he wanted to go for the sake of the country and he’s ready for the Asian Games. Hats off to him.”
“We knew that he would rise above all these and would give the call of the nation priority and he did just that. Of course, his (Chhetri’s) club said yes and released him. So, credit to Bengaluru FC also. The club made the sacrifice of releasing its best player when it is not a FIFA window”, he further added.
Chhetri’s club Bengaluru FC had six players in the initial list. But have only released the attacker and Rohit Danu. Also, it is not compulsory for the clubs to release their players for the Asian Games, as it doesn’t fall in the FIFA international fixtures window. Football in Asian Games is an under-23 event with three over-aged players allowed per side. Chhetri has represented India 142 times, scoring 92 goals, which is also the most by an Indian. He is also the third-highest goal-scorer in international football among active players, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The 39-year-old will be participating in his third Asian Games. He first appeared as a 22-year-old in the 2006 edition, and the team was captained by Bhaichung Bhutia. India crashed out of the group stage. Then in 2014 Chettri captained India but again couldn’t cross the group stage.
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