The AIO decides not to send football teams to the Asian Games

AIFF had planned to use the Asian Games as a springboard for the preparation of the Asian Cup. (Source: PTI)

Emphasizing that they will not allow any "pbadenger", the Indian Olympic Association (AIO), Saturday, has omitted the men's and women's football teams from contingent of the Asian Games. A senior AIO official said the football teams were excluded because they had no chance to compete for the medals.

The decision is a huge setback for the Football Federation of India (AIFF), who hoped to use the games are one of the key tournaments in the preparation of the Asian Cup of next year. The AIFF may raise the issue with Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, hoping that IOA will reverse his position.

Football is the only high-level sport that has been omitted from India's entry list, which was finalized on Saturday – the last day to submit entries. Football is ranked as a priority sport by the Ministry of Sport, but a senior AIO official said that he simply sticks to the guidelines set by the government.

"The guidelines are in place and we follow them strictly. The football team has not done well at the international level and has no chance of winning medals. It was therefore useless to send them to the Games, "said a senior AIO official." We are evolving as a sports nation. In many sports, we compete for gold medals. In such a scenario, we should not send a team just for the competition. "

According to government guidelines, which have been applied by the IOA, only teams that have reached the eighth rank of the nations competing at the Asian Games will be considered for participation. ranks 97th in the world and 14th in Asia, while the women's team, ranked 60th in the world, ranks 13th on the continent.These standards have been relaxed in some cases, but a ministry official insisted that they would be strictly enforced on this occasion.

With the Asian Cup just four months after the Games, it is claimed that Asiad is a necessary show for the team. "Football is easily the most competitive sport in the world. It's not easy to be in the top eight of the continent and this decision by the AIO completely ignores the progress made in recent years. We will raise the problem with the highest authorities and ensure the participation of our teams, "said an official of AIFF.

This is not the first time that football teams are on It was a similar case four years ago, but a timely intervention by AIFF President Praful Patel saved the day for them.They then lost all their matches, forcing IOA to take the drastic step of omitting them from the quota list.

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