The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been left red-faced after the I-League club, Bengaluru FC, refused to release India players, including star striker Sunil Chhetri, for the SAFF Cup preparatory camp in Kochi.
After the club's refusal, Chhetri and six other national players were not able to join the camp, which started on Wednesday. The Bengaluru-based club has written a letter to the AIFF, saying the players are tired and would only join the team three days before the start of the SAFF Cup on December 23 as per the FIFA rule.
According to sources, national coach Stephen Constantine spoke to Chhetri on joining the camp immediately, but the India captain said he would have to get permission from the club. When Chhetri approached the club officials, they denied him permission to join the camp, along with his other teammates.
The letter also said that since the I-League is beginning on January 9, these players need rest, otherwise most of them would suffer physical breakdowns. Moreover, these players hardly had a chance to train with their club side since they were playing in the Indian Super League (ISL) for the past three months.
Nine Bengaluru FC players had been called to the national camp and seven of them were supposed to join on Wednesday. Two others — Robin Singh and Rino Anto — are still involved in the ISL as their clubs, Delhi Dynamos and Atletico de Kolkata, respectively, have reached the semifinal.
AIFF had faced a similar problem a couple of months ago when some ISL clubs had refused to release the players to attend the World Cup camp.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment