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New Delhi, The All India Football Federation (AIFF) heaved a sigh of relief as Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in consultation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tuesday cleared the football teams but the Indian contingent for the Incheon Asian Games, slated for Sep 19-Oct 4, was pruned to 679 from 942 that was proposed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The football teams, which are currently in Shanghai, have been cleared at all-cost-to-the-government basis. The men’s squad will comprise 20 members and women’s 18. The men’s team have won the gold medal twice in 1951 and 1962.
A top official in the AIFF told IANS that the government had cleared football and four other disciplines as a ‘special case’ for the Games. The government was unhappy with the men’s football team’s performance and was not in favour of sending it to the Asian Games.
The total number of participants shall be 679, including 516 athletes and 163 coaches and support staff. The IOA had sent a list of 942 participants, including 662 athletes and 280 officials. India will be participating in a total of 28 disciplines as against 35 last time.
“In Asiad 2010 in Guangzhou, China, we had sent a contingent of 609 athletes plus 324 officials (933). It has also been decided that ‘No Cost to Government’ shall not be a consideration for finalising the national contingent,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The list was sent by the IOA to the ministry on 21st August, 2014. As per the Ministry’s guidelines, the list was required to be submitted at least 90 days in advance. The exercise was undertaken to ensure that the deserving Athletes, Coaches and Supporting Personnel are participating in the Games. The minister wishes the Indian contingent all the very best,” the statement added.
Besides football, the disciplines cleared for the Asian Games are aquatics (swimming), archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing and kayaking, cycling, equestrian, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kabaddi, rowing, sepak takraw, shooting, squash, taekwondo, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, wushu, weightlifting, and yachting.
Meanwhile, the final lists of footballers who would be boarding the flight to Incheon have also been named by the men’s and women’s coaches Wim Koevermans and Tarun Roy, respectively.
Dempo’s Alwyn George, Pune FC duo Salam Ranjan Singh and Dhanpal Ganesh and Sporting Clube De Goa’s Rowlin Borges failed to make the cut for the Asian Games for the U-23 India Men’s side.
On the other hand, Supriya Routray, Indumathi, Jyoti Ann Burrett and Rinaroy Devi won’t be travelling to Incheon along with the Indian Women’s squad.
Clubbed in Group A alongside hosts South Korea, the Maldives and Thailand, the Indian women play their first group league match against Maldives Sep 14. The other matches are against South Korea (Sep 17) and Thailand (Sep 19).
The U-23 men, on the other hand, have to take on the might of last Games’ silver medallists United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their first group league match slated for Sep 15 while their last match in the Group is against Jordan, Sep 22.
Squads:
Men:
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Ravi Kumar, Kamaljit Singh.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Keenan Almeida, Joyner Lourenco, Shankar Sampingiraj, Sandesh Jhingan, Narayan Das.
Midfielders: Pronoy Halder, Clifton Dias, Siam Hangal, Lalrindika Ralte, Milan Singh.
Forwards: Francis Fernandes (senior Player), Seiminlen Doungel, Sunil Chhetri (senior player), Robin Singh (senior player), Haokip Thongkoshim, Mandar Rao Desai.
Women:
Goalkeeper: Okram Roshni Devi, Aditi Chauhan, Pushpa Tirkey
Defenders: Ashem Romi Devi, Ashalata Devi, Tuli Goon, Radharani Devi, Suprava Samal, Upamati Devi
Midfielders: Premi Devi, Amoolya Kamal, Mandakini Devi, Oinam Bembem Devi, Kamala Devi.
Forwards: Sasmita Malik, Prameshwori Devi, Dangmei Grace, Bala Devi.
