Indian football team will not be sent to play Asian games, confirms IOA

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday while announcing 524-member contingent finally confirmed that Indian football team will not be participating for the upcoming 18th Asian Games to be held from August 18 to September 2 in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.      

AIFF on Monday had said that they did not receive any official letter from the IOA regarding Indian football teams participation for the multi-sporting event.However, IOA after naming the contingent on Tuesday finally confirmed.     

Kushal Das, General Secretary,AIFFF on Monday had said, "there hasn't been any official announcement from IOA about the same and all we got has been a verbal communication, Das labelled the move as sad and disheartening."  

We were 173 in 2015 and as of today we are 97 in the FIFA rankings which explains the significant efforts made for the evolution of Football in India."(UNI)