India take on Turkmenistan on Oct 8 and Oman on Oct 13
New Delhi: All India Football Federation on Monday made it clear that all the national team players who are in the Indian Super League sides will be released on time for the two 2018 World Cup qualifier matches to be played next month.
India take Turkmenistan on October 8 and Oman on October 13, both away matches, and AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said that all the players who are with the ISL teams will be released four days prior to the first match.
“The reports that national teams players in the ISL will not be released for two World Cup qualifiers next month are completely wrong. All of them will be released four days — inclusive of the match day — prior to the first match. This is under FIFA rules,” Das told PTI.
“So, the players will join the national team on the morning of October 5 and continue to be with the team till the second match on October 13. There was no confusion on that as this was decided by the AIFF and the ISL long back,” he said.
Almost all the national team players who took the field against Iran on September 8 are in the ISL teams. The second edition of the ISL begins on October 3 in Chennai.
Meanwhile, The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday announced that the senior national team will play their home match against Guam in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Bengaluru on November 12.
The meeting was chaired by AIFF president Praful Patel with general secretary Kushal Das. National team coach Stephen Constantine and technical director Scott O’Donnell were also in attendance.
The AIFF unanimously granted the Madhya Pradesh Football Association the right to host the Senior National Women’s Championship while the final phase of the next edition of the Santosh Trophy will be held in Nagpur.
It was decided that the Second Division League would be played in the conference format. The division will be divided into Eastern Conference and Western Conference and would be played on a home and away basis.
The top three teams from each conference would qualify for the final phase which would also be held on a home and away basis.
In addition, the U-15 and the U-18 leagues have been divided into five zones (Goa, East, Maharashtra, North East and Rest of India) and the top two from each zone will advance to the final phase. (Agencies)
