Indian men's football team captain Sunil Chhetri's name is missing from India's squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023. Chhetri was tipped to lead team India in the multi-sport tournament, but he is not part of the team that will travel to Hangzhou in September.
India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports gave an exemption to men's and women's football teams to participate in the tournament on July 26 amid the protest from the fans. Both men's and women's teams are ranked outside the criteria needed to qualify for the tournament but are set to feature after intervention from the government.
However, the men's team tournament will feature U23 teams with three players aged 23 or above allowed to play while the women's team has no age restriction on the players in Asiad. All India Football Federation (AIFF) previously revealed that the captain Chhetri, no.1 goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and central defender Sandesh Jhingan will be part of India's U23 team for the Asiad.
But a report from Times of India reveals that the trio's name is missing from the Indian team and the AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey is currently seeking accreditation from the organizers for Chhetri, Jhingan and Sandhu's inclusion in the team.
“When I realised this (omission), being the head of the organisation (AIFF), I took up the matter personally to ensure that their names were added so that they could get the accreditation. Their names have been sent to the organisers. The people concerned who made the presentation to the ministry should have known about this. As the federation president, I needed to interfere,” Kalyan Chaubey told The Times of India.
India men's football team for the Asian Games 2023: Anwar Ali, Gurmeet, Lalengmawia, Narender, Rahim Ali, Lalnuntluanga Bawitlung, Rohit Danu, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Aniket Anil Jadhav, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Akash Mishra, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Thoiba Singh Moirangthem, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Roshan Singh Naorem, Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Asish Rai, Vikram Pratap Singh, Deepak Tangri, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam
