Thursday , March 28 2024

India’s US Tour cancelled, friendlies against Bhutan & Puerto Rico likely!

India TrainingA depleted Indian national football team is currently training in New Delhi under head coach Stephen Constantine with players from Bengaluru FC and East Bengal Club not part of the camp as BFC players will prepare from Monday, August 1 for their AFC Cup quarterfinal, while the red and gold players are preparing for the clubs Calcutta Football League campaign with an aim to win the title for a record seventh time in a row.

Now a planned tour of the United States with friendly matches against Major League Soccer (MLS) and United Soccer League (USL) teams besides one or two international friendlies has been cancelled officially due to US visa procurement issues.

Also an issues was that the Indian Super League franchises start their pre-season training latest by early-September, which would mean that having the India team away in North America but without any official FIFA match dates would have meant that the AIFF would need to release players from the camp or tour upon request, which would have further depleted the already weakened team.

Further the tour itinerary could not be finalised as the international friendly matches became an issue as potential opponents were not willing to pay for a lowly ranked India to travel to play in their respective countries or neutral venues in the United States.

The AIFF and head coach Stephen Constantine have looked at potential alternatives and are considering to send India on a short tour of Bhutan and play the Himalayan Kingdom in Thimphu, while on their return a friendly against Caribbean islanders Puerto Rico could be held in India with the venue still undecided.

About Arunava Chaudhuri

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