The sports ministry is having second thoughts about sending the Indian football contingent out to the games on account of worsening performances....
Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, says the old vernacular. But India’s loss to Pakistan in the bilateral series recently held at Bangalore, which was a bolt from the blue, seems to have set in motion the process of the old idiom actually being rephrased.
If reports are to be believed, then the sports ministry of India is actually toying with the idea of dropping the Indian football team from the list of participants heading for the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
The authorities are said to be miffed with the Indian U-23 squad’s loss in the second game of the series to their Pakistani counterparts in Bangalore. Jiji Thompson, the director general of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) was said to have been extremely displeasured at the sight of the Indian team’s performance, after watching their surrender first hand at the Bangalore football stadium.
India had won the first match against the Shaheens by a 1-0 margin, but it wasn’t a cakewalk by any means. The Blue Tigers were then brought down to earth in the second game, getting beaten 2-0 by a team lower than them by about 15 places, in the rankings.
“A final decision would only be taken after a week, but there is every chance the government would not bear the cost of the men’s and women’s football teams in the Asian Games. Of course, the AIFF (All India Football Federation) can send the team on their own,” elucidated an official in the know of things, to Kolkata daily The Telegraph.
Catastrophe spells for the national team if the SAI decides against sending them and the AIFF deters from sending them at their own cost as it would be the third such time that the Indians go unrepresented at the games in football, the previous occasions being 1990 and 1994.
The Indian team, who won gold at the Asian games in 1951 and 1962 adding a bronze in 1970, are victims of a larger shake-up in the selection process of the SAI for the games, as they believe that only athletes who have a clear probability of reaching the quarter-finals of their respective participating events be allowed to the games.
The Indian Olympics Association’s (IOA) list of participating candidates was under consideration at the ministry, with officials already keen to separate the medal winners from the also-rans. There is a chance that the Indian football teams (both men and women) alongside the table tennis and sepak takraw maybe axed.
Incidentally, both football teams were in China on preparatory tours as previously decided, after being cleared by the SAI in preparation of the games. Whether the preparation actually goes in vain is another question all together.
It must be remembered that the national team, under the upskill of Sukhwinder Singh at the
Asian Games bound India U-23 National Team will be playing two practice matches during their two-week Exposure Tour to China ahead of the Incheon Games starting September 14.
The Sunil Chhetri led team which also comprises of two other senior players Robin Singh and Francis Fernandes as per the rules, will be playing Shanghai East Asia and Jiangsu Sainty of the Chinese Super League on Friday (August 29, 2014) and September 6, 2014.
Comments
The sports ministry is having second thoughts about
sending the Indian football contingent out to the games on account of
worsening performances....
Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, says the old
vernacular. But India’s loss to Pakistan in the bilateral series
recently held at Bangalore, which was a bolt from the blue, seems to
have set in motion the process of the old idiom actually being
rephrased.
If reports are to be believed, then the sports ministry of India is
actually toying with the idea of dropping the Indian football team from
the list of participants heading for the Asian Games in Incheon, South
Korea.
The authorities are said to be miffed with the Indian U-23 squad’s
loss in the second game of the series to their Pakistani counterparts in
Bangalore. Jiji Thompson, the director general of the Sports Authority
of India (SAI) was said to have been extremely displeasured at the sight
of the Indian team’s performance, after watching their surrender first
hand at the Bangalore football stadium.
India had won the first match against the Shaheens by a 1-0 margin, but it wasn’t a cakewalk by any means. The Blue Tigers
were then brought down to earth in the second game, getting beaten 2-0
by a team lower than them by about 15 places, in the rankings.
“A final decision would only be taken after a week, but there is
every chance the government would not bear the cost of the men’s and
women’s football teams in the Asian Games. Of course, the AIFF (All
India Football Federation) can send the team on their own,” elucidated
an official in the know of things, to Kolkata daily The Telegraph.
Catastrophe spells for the national team if the SAI decides against
sending them and the AIFF deters from sending them at their own cost as
it would be the third such time that the Indians go unrepresented at the
games in football, the previous occasions being 1990 and 1994.
The Indian team, who won gold at the Asian games in 1951 and 1962
adding a bronze in 1970, are victims of a larger shake-up in the
selection process of the SAI for the games, as they believe that only
athletes who have a clear probability of reaching the quarter-finals of
their respective participating events be allowed to the games.
The Indian Olympics Association’s (IOA) list of participating
candidates was under consideration at the ministry, with officials
already keen to separate the medal winners from the also-rans. There is a
chance that the Indian football teams (both men and women) alongside
the table tennis and sepak takraw maybe axed.
Incidentally, both football teams were in China on preparatory tours
It must be remembered that the national team, under the upskill of Sukhwinder Singh at theas previously decided, after being cleared by the SAI in preparation of
the games. Whether the preparation actually goes in vain is another
question all together.
The Sunil Chhetri led team which also comprises of two other senior players Robin Singh and Francis Fernandes as per the rules, will be playing Shanghai East Asia and Jiangsu Sainty of the Chinese Super League on Friday (August 29, 2014) and September 6, 2014.