India's football coach Igor Stimac has finally broken his silence on the ongoing controversy of taking assistance from an astrologer to pick the Indian team for the Asia Cup qualifiers. The 56-year-old has mentioned that he remains committed to the cause of Indian football and dropped a hint that he will make a few big revelations in the days to come.
"Target or honest fighter for the betterment of Indian football? The time is coming to put all cards on the table and see how much and who really cares about football in this country," Stimac wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"Give it a thought before making up your judgment and thanks once again for your support."
In another post, Stimac said, "My dream of making India a football nation is still alive".
Meanwhile, there are reports that the All India Football Federation reached out to an astrologer to make the final call on team selection in Asian Cup qualifiers among others in May, and June 2022. The newly emerged reports suggest that Stimac was personally in touch with the astrologer and consulted him in regards to finalising India's starting XI for a few games.
Meanwhile, India are slated to play in the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou but it is still not clear whether all the players who have been named in the squad will feature in the tournament or not as the Indian Super League's upcoming edition is clashing with the Asian Games schedule.
India's squad for the Asian Games:
Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu, Sunil Chhetri
Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh
Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem
