Indian men's and women's football teams will participate in the 2023 Asian Games: Anurag Thakur

Following days of protests and appeals, Minister of Sports Anurag Thakur responded to Indian football fans' plea on Wednesday, July 26 permitting both Indian men's and women's U-23 football teams to compete in the 2023 Asian Games in China.

In a post from his official social media handle, Thakur announced that the Sports Ministry had decided to relax the rules and allow the teams to participate in the continental tournament although they weren't qualifying as per the existing criteria.

"Good news for Indian football lovers! Our national football teams, both Men’s and Women’s, are set to participate in the upcoming Asian Games," the Minister wrote on Twitter.

"The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, has decided to relax the rules to facilitate participation of both the teams, which were not qualifying as per the existing criterion. Keeping in mind their latest performances in the recent times, the Ministry decided to grant the relaxation."

Furthermore, the Member of the Parliament also expressed his desire that the Blue Tigers and Tigresses will perform to the best of their abilities in the tournament.

"I am sure they will put their best foot forward in the Asian Games and make our country proud."

The announcement brings to an end a cloud of uncertainty that had gulped Indian football for days after the Ministry of Sport's letter, dated July 10, sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all the National Sports Federations (NSFs), came out in public. As the men's and women's senior teams are ranked 18th and 11th in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in the latest FIFA rankings, respectively, they were nowhere close to the cut-off of the Top 8 teams set by the ministry.

Hence, both teams' participation in the Asiad remained in all sorts of doubt throughout the period.

India's participation in the Asian Games - a victory for the fans and the AIFF

In response to this, Indian football supporters took to social media, launching a protest with the hashtag #IndianFootballforAsianGames trending across platforms.

Head coach Igor Stimac also rallied alongside the supporters, urging the Sports Ministry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider their decision, highlighting the significant progress of Indian football under the guidance of the Croatian head coach.

In addition to these collective efforts, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey held discussions with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, aiming to present the recent developments in Indian football and discuss their potential participation in the Asian Games.

As a result of these efforts, the Sports Ministry have finally decided to allow India’s participation, despite their previous announcement indicating that only teams ranked in the top eight would be permitted to participate in team events at the Asian Games.