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The tussle between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs over the release of national team players for the Asian Games 2023 has yet again exposed the lack of communication, transparency and planning when it comes to the Indian national team and club football calendar in this country.
How did the tussle between the AIFF and ISL clubs start?
After the success of the Indian football team at the Tri-Nation Series, Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championship, the Indian football community started to believe that the national team indeed has started to improve.
With positive results against competitive Asian sides like Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon and Kuwait, the belief was strong, and fans were finally getting to watch top quality of football from the Indian football team.
Two weeks after the SAFF Championship 2023 final win over Kuwait in Bengaluru, media reports started speculating that the Indian football team might not participate in the upcoming Asian Games, as it did not fulfill the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports rule of being a top-eight ranked side in Asia.
And, thus began the online uproar.
Thousands of Indian football fans tweeted for several days straight, tagging the Ministry, AIFF and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Officials within the AIFF also lobbied to push the newly elected President Kalyan Chaubey to influence the Ministry for the inclusion of the Indian football team in the upcoming Asian Games.
And, 12 days later, the Ministry finally made an exemption for the Indian men's and women's football teams, and included them in the official sports programme for the Asian Games 2023.
What is the tussle between AIFF and ISL clubs all about?
Men's football at the Asian Games begins on September 19, 2023, and the gold medal match is scheduled to be held on October 7, 2023. The problem is that the 2023-24 Indian Super League is scheduled to start on September 21, 2023. The clubs do not want to release their players for the showpiece sporting event right at the beginning of the season.
What is more intriguing is that the AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey tried to push the Football Sports Develoopment Limited (FSDL), the governing body of the ISL, to postpone the start of the new season, but the request was rejected.
Moreover, Mumbai City FC start their AFC Champions League 2023-24 campaign on September 18, 2023 against Nassaji Mazandaran in Pune, while Mohun Bagan SG and Odisha FC also begin their AFC Cup 2023-24 journey on September 19, 2023 against each other.
Igor Stimac's repeated requests and appeals go ignored
Amidst the entire fiasco of clubs and the federation going up against each other, the Indian national team head coach Igor Stimac has been one of the most vocal advocates of releasing players for the national team. He has been making repeated requests and appeals internally and also on social media to the AIFF, FSDL, clubs and fans.
Even after announcing training camps for the Indian national team ahead of the AFC U-23 qualifiers and the King's Cup, Stimac failed to get his players at his disposal as the clubs wanted to keep their players for Durand Cup 2023 and other pre-season tournaments.
The senior national team drew 2-2 with Iraq and lost 0-1 to Lebanon in the King's Cup in Thailand while the U23 side lost 1-2 to China and 0-3 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both the teams had to play without a training camp due to club commitments.
Things go from bad to worse between Igor Stimac, AIFF and FSDL
Things worsened when reports emerged that the AIFF has held players in China and Thailand hostage, and was not letting them return to India. Rumors suggested that Igor Stimac, on the behest of AIFF, wanted to hold on to the U23 and senior national team players for a few more days and send them all together to Hangzhou, China, for the Asian Games.
To make things even more complicated, a news report emerged the very next day saying Igor Stimac worked with an astrologer to select the national team for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers last year, creating uproar and hysteria amongst the Indian football community against the national team head coach.
The AIFF has now announced a depleted squad for Asian Games 2023 after repeated requests and appeals to the clubs to release their players for the mega event. This essentially means the best players of the country will not be available for the Asian Games 2023.
Igor Stimac has been asking for training camps way before the season calendar was planned by FSDL and AIFF
Igor Stimac has also been repeatedly asking for a four-week training camp ahead of the AFC Asian Cup 2024 in Qatar. However, every single request of his has been ignored and FSDL's newly released ISL fixtures have games scheduled till December 29, 2023, thus leaving Stimac with just 14 days, including travel time to prepare for the biggest tournament in Asian football.
With FSDL ignoring AIFF's requests, and clubs sticking to their right to not release players outside the FIFA window, the Indian national team faces a situation where training camps ahead of big fixtures like the Asian Cup 2024 and the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers look like a distant reality.
What can AIFF, FSDL and the clubs do to ensure national team and club competitions do not clash?
As per reports, the AIFF, FSDL, ISL clubs and Igor Stimac have been in touch with each other since March 2023, planning the 2023-24 calendar for the national team. The AIFF successfully managed to host the Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championship before the club season.
The federation then went on to ensure invitations to the King's Cup in Thailand and Merdeka Cup in Malaysia in September and October, respectively. The AFC Asian Cup 2024 and the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round 2 qualifiers dates were also known well in advance to the federation, alongside the Asian Games 2023 dates.
The AFC U-23 qualifiers dates are also announced months before the actual event and any federation and league has ample amount of time to plan and schedule the club season in accordance to the same.
AIFF and FSDL have to work closer with Igor Stimac for the sake of Indian football
The AIFF and FSDL have to work closely together, and identify all FIFA windows in the successive football season, and plan out the club season accordingly. The federation also needs to focus on the U23 side.
Unlike most teams in Asia, the India U23 side did not play a single friendly in the previous two years leading up to the AFC U23 qualifiers and the Asian Games 2023. The AIFF was mostly dormant when it came to the Asian Games and only reacted after media reports emerged suggesting a possible exclusion of the football team from the continental showpiece event.
AIFF needs to plan early and utitlize the entire year to plan out the club calendar and leave out space for the national team
The AIFF should have identified all possible senior and U23 national team windows and commitments, and worked with the FSDL to plan out a feasable club calendar, which would have allowed ample time for Igor Stimac and his men to prepare for each and every national team tournament.
The Indian football season officially runs from June 1 of every year to May 31 of the next year. There is a huge amount of time to respect the clubs' right to keeping their players outside the FIFA window and also get Igor Stimac enough time to prepare. This will satisfy all stakeholders involved in Indian football.
It is paramount to note that clubs are well within their right to not release their players 48 hours before the match during a FIFA international window. The clubs also need not release any players for non-FIFA/AFC mandated competitions like the Asian Games.
Hence, consulting with clubs is essential for the FSDL and AIFF before working on the season calender for the successive year to avoid any last-minute friction.
The FSDL needs to cooperate more with the AIFF and not be afraid of letting ISL clash with the IPL
The FSDL also has to cooperate and not use absolute autonomy over the AIFF to plan out the ISL fixtures. If required, the ISL can go on till April and May as well, just like any other established professional league in the world.
It need not fear the presence of the country's premier cricket competition, the Indian Premier League (IPL), in the Indian summer and try to avoid clashing with the competition on the basis of television and digital numbers.
Indian football fans make a sizeable number in the Indian sporting scenario at the moment and there is no need to avoid confrontation with the IPL. Sporting reasons have to be the sole criteria to host the club competitions and national team training camps.
To take Indian football forward, the success of the national team is paramount
India, as a country, is a nation fuelled with national pride. A country performing well in a sport attracts new fans. Yes, some might argue that football is a club based sport, but at the end of the day, Indian football will only advance if the national team performs well on the global stage.
However, it is not to say that club football needs to take a backseat. Every long-term solution to develop and expand Indian football will include a robust club and league football structure across 9-10 months. Having said that, it is essential that the national team gets its required focus and attention.
