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After days of speculation, uncertainty, and despair, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports finally gave the green signal on Wednesday, July 26, to the Indian men's and women's football teams to participate in the 2023 Asian Games.
In a post from his official social media handle, the Minister of Sports Anurag Thakur announced:
"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 Member of Parliament wrote on Twitter.
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With this decision, finally, it can be pronounced with absolute surety that both the men's and women's Under-23 teams will travel to Hangzhou, China for the Asiad.
Why was India's participation in the Asian Games in doubt?
The Ministry of Sport's letter, dated July 10, sent to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and all the National Sports Federations (NSFs), underlined a set of criteria teams needed to fulfil to participate in the Asian Games.
"For team events, only those sports which have achieved a ranking up to eighth among participating countries of Asia in the last year should be considered for participation in Asian Games," the circular read.
With the men's and women's senior teams ranked 18th and 11th in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in the latest FIFA rankings, respectively, they were nowhere close to the cut-off set by the ministry. Hence, it meant the teams would miss out on the continental competition for a second consecutive time.
It is worth noting that the IOA also refused to grant permission to the Indian team on the same criteria for the 2018 edition as well.
What altered the decision of snubbing the Indian football team a chance to participate in the Asian Games?
As soon as the possibility of the team missing out on the Asian Games was made public, football fans took to social media in numbers to voice their opinion in favor of reversing the decision.
Even men's national team head coach Igor Stimac came out with a statement, hitting out at the sports ministry's decision and requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make an exception.
According to multiple news outlets, the All India Football Federation (AIFF), led by President Kalyan Chaubey, had multiple meetings with Anurag Thakur and the Sports Ministry to revert the decision. During these meetings, they highlighted the importance of the Indian football team traveling to Hangzhou.
Soon the pleas were heard and today Thakur announced that the Government of India will relax the rules to facilitate the participation of both teams, keeping in mind their latest performances. This comes as welcome news for everyone involved with Indian football as it will allow the U-23 players to rub shoulders with some of Asia's finest.
