Igor Stimac, the head coach of the Indian football team, has decided to make an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Anurag Thakur because the team will be missing the Asian Games for the second consecutive year. In an impassioned letter, Stimac begged the Indian authorities to let the team captained by Sunil Chhetri take part in the continental competition. As the team’s current ranking does not place it among the top 8 teams in Asia, it is unlikely that it will assigned to the Asian Games.
The Indian Sports Ministry has established the standard, but there is still a chance that the government will exclude the Indian football squad from the need. In this case, Stimac has personally asked for something.
“A humble appeal and sincere request to Honourable Prime Minister Sri @narendramodi ji and Hon. Sports Minister @ianuragthakur, please allow our football team to participate in the Asian games,” he wrote in a tweet.
“Honorable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji, I am not sure if someone would have briefed or updated you about the Indian teams participating in the upcoming Asian Games, where the most significant and crucial global sport “football” team has deprived of participating and representing the Indian flag,” Stimac wrote in the tweet.
“India made significant investments in developing a very good new generation of players while hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017. You have always backed India’s aspiration to compete in the FIFA World Cup, and I am confident that if we continue to receive your support in the same way we have up to this point, the day will soon arrive when we will be on the international stage competing in the most prestigious competitions. We have put in a lot of effort as a national team over the last four years and have achieved some fantastic accomplishments, demonstrating that we can accomplish more with the help of all stakeholders. All Indians who dream of and support Indian football moved by your lecture about football and Mbappe during your recent visit to France.
I wanted to draw your immediate attention to the fact that our U-17 team from 2017—a highly bright group that also performed admirably in the U-23 World Cup qualifiers—is currently barred from competing in the Asian Games. This group deserves and urgently needs your support. The reasons cited are unfair, thus as the head coach of India’s national team, I thought it was critical to bring this issue to your and the Honorable Sports Minister Anurag Thakur’s attention right away. in order for you to step in and assist the team in competing in the Asian Games. One billion Indians have hoped and prayed for the beautiful game, and we need their involvement. Due to the fact that our own ministry forbids participation in the context of ranking. However, our football squad is really ranked higher than some of the other sports teams who have permission to compete in the Asian Games. Football is one sport where a lower-ranked team has a chance to defeat the top-ranked teams, as evidenced by history and statistics.
Consequently, I’m pleading with you on behalf of the whole Indian football community to kindly permit our squad to compete in the Asian Games. We’ll battle for the flag and the honor of our country.
Between September 23 and October 8, Hangzhou, China, will host the Asian Games. On September 19, the football team’s competitions will get underway.
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