New Delhi: Unwillingness of Indian Super League and I-League clubs to release players for the U-20 national team has put the All India Football Federation in a tight spot in its aim of putting together a competitive squad for three upcoming friendlies.
The Indian U-20 team will take part in a four-nation U-20 event also involving hosts Indonesia, Syria, Jordan, beginning their campaign on January 24 against Syria.
It is followed by a match-up against Jordan on January 27 and a clash against Indonesia on January 30, with all matches staged at the Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, East Java.
But five days before kick-off, the AIFF has been unable to pick a 23-member squad and even announce who will be in charge of the team.
Kerala’s Santosh Trophy coach Biby Thomas has been chosen for the job, after the team failed to qualify for the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup under Ranjan Chaudhuri last year, but the AIFF is yet to officially announce it.
The federation has decided to select a squad of players on Monday all of whom are U-18 (born in 2007) while the participating teams will field their U-20 teams, believing it will be good competition for the upcoming talents.
Thomas is currently supervising a camp of the team in Goa, where 33 players have checked in, though not all are first-choice options.
🇮🇩 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐔-𝟐𝟎 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
The friendly matches are scheduled to take place on January 24, 27, and 30, 2025, involving Jordan 🇯🇴, Syria 🇸🇾, and India 🇮🇳 as opponents.#PSSI pic.twitter.com/wckm09JoAB
— ASEAN FOOTBALL (@theaseanball) January 13, 2025
It has forced the federation to pick from what is available after an ISL club refused to release even one of the seven-eight players called up from it for national duty.
“Football Director’s wish,” was the curt reply offered to News9 Sports by an official of the ISL club that refused to release any of its called-up players.
Since the matches don’t fall under FIFA window for international matches, clubs are not obligated to release players.
With qualifiers of the Reliance Foundation Development League currently being held across the country, some clubs have put it forward as reason not to let go of players.
Club vs country: A familiar tussle in Indian football
It has exasperated AIFF officials, who are left to ponder if they need to bring in rules to ensure release of U-17 and U-20 players for future events.
“What harm is there in releasing these junior players who are not getting game time in their respective clubs? If anything they would only benefit from the experience of playing in international matches against good opposition and see where they stand as footballers when pitted against players of the same or slightly above age bracket of other countries,” said AIFF’s deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan, who is also in charge of the national teams.
“There will likely be a meeting with I-League clubs in first week of February. We will try and address this issue with the clubs. The AIFF acknowledges the fact that clubs play a huge role in development of players and have them for most of the year. But playing for the country and attending national camps is also important.”
It is not the first time that clubs have refused to release players with the issue cropping up from time to time even for the senior team too, with the last stand-off happening before the Hangzhou Asian Games in September-October of 2023.
In another development, the AIFF is poised to appoint former goalkeeper Subrata Paul as the new director of the national team after interviewing five-six people for the post.
The Indian U-20 team will take part in a four-nation U-20 event in Indonesia from January 24 but the AIFF is yet to announce the squad or appoint a coach for it Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
