With the Indian national football team ranked 152 as per the latest FIFA rankings, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) is keen to arrange International friendlies to improve their rankings ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup qualifications which begin next year.
The AIFF are currently looking into possible fixtures for the Indian team away to Bhutan and a home game against Puerto Rico. While the match against the neighbours is scheduled to be played on August 10 or 11, no dates have been finalised for the match against Puerto Rico. The CONMEBOL side is currently ranked 112, and will help to enhance their position in the standings.
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Previously, India was over the course of a possible tour to the United States of America for a series of friendlies. The men in blue were scheduled for the last week of August, for an exposure trip to the USA where they would play a few matches with Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, the United Soccer League (USL) teams and a few Internationals.
As per the reports of the Hindustan Times back in February, Indian coach Stephen Constantine said, “The general idea is we will play two-three games against some MLS and USL clubs and also one or two internationals… I think it would be a great experience for our players”
As per the plan, India would have also played a friendly 129th ranked Guyana but as soon as the prospect was brought up, the organisers in the USA informed that the AIFF is supposed to bear all the expenses for the tour.
The fact that the national team will not get the scope to be a part of such a trip until January 2017 due to Indian Super League and the I-League, the federation agreed to send the players, but the tour was eventually cancelled as the Visas could not be arranged.
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During the World Cup qualifiers too, India was required to get visas for the match against Guam but it was arranged quickly owing to the fact it was an FIFA-approved tournament. “Only a handful had US visas, having been part of the squad for the World Cup qualifier against Guam (in June 2015). Visas were then got in five days because that match was part of a FIFA tournament. This time, it would have taken a lot longer” said an AIFF official.
The matches against Bhutan and Puerto Rico is likely to be played during the ISL pre-season and majority of the teams prefer to train in European countries, it is going to be a tedious task for the players to fly back to their country for the International ties and then return to their respective camps.
