Igor Stimac requests PM Modi to intervene after Indian football team fails to get green signal for Asian Games

The decision to stop the Indian men’s and women’s football teams from participating in the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, was met with great disappointment from fans as well as members involved with both the men’s and women’s squads. The decision comes after the government claimed that India won’t be releasing teams to the Asiad if they were ranked outside the top 8 of the continental rankings, with both squads narrowly falling out of the running.

The AIFF’s Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran had told PTI that an appeal that would be made towards the government bodies, to allow the football teams to participate in China in September. “This is a decision taken by the government. So, we have to abide by it. However, we will make an appeal to the government to reconsider the decision as far as football is concerned,” said Prabhakaran.

Following this, even coach Stimac has made a plea for an exception to be made for the football teams to participate in the tournament.

Using his Twitter handle to share his request, Stimac wrote “A humble appeal and sincere request to Honourable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji and Hon. Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, to kindly allow our football team to participate in the Asian games. We will fight for our nation’s pride and the flag! Jai Hind!”

In the images attached, the Croat made the case for the Indian team, which is ranked 18th in the AFC, to be given dispensation to participate at the Asian Games, given the work that has gone in to developing the sport in the country. The U-23 team would be called upon to participate in the event.

“India hosted the U-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017 and invested heavily in building a very fine new generation of players,” wrote the Croatian in a message directed towards the Prime Minister. “You have always supported India’s dream of playing in FIFA World Cup one day and I am certain that if we have your continuous support in the manner we have received till date, the day is not far when we will be at the global stage participating in the most prestigious tournaments.”

Stimac also touched on Modi’s speech in Paris this week, in which the Prime Minister spoke about the popularity of French star Kylian Mbappe in India. “Your speech about football and Mbappe in your recent visit to France also touched all Indians dreaming and rooting for Indian football,” wrote the Indian coach.

Stimac also wrote about the importance of providing this stage to the youth team which has worked hard in recent months, who are being denied due to the ranking of the senior team. Stimac was passionate in his appeal, writing “I wanted to bring to your immediate attention that our U-17 team from 2017, which also gave a great performance at the U-23 World Cup qualifiers and is one very talented team, is now being deprived from participating in the Asian Games. This team really needs and deserves the participation.”

“The reasons given are unjust and as India’s national team coach, I felt it’s important to immediately bring this matter to your and the Hon’ble Sports Minister Anurag Thakur’s knowledge,” continued Stimac, who has led India to within FIFA’s top 100 in the rankings following the trophy in the SAFF Championships.

“So that you could intervene and help the team participate in the Asian Games. There are hopes and prayers of 1 billion Indians for the beautiful game and we need such participation,” concluded Stimac in his plea to Modi and Thakur.

Stimac has been a passionate and fierce leader for the Blue Tigers in his stint as head coach, always ready to fight for his players. and considers the country to be his second home. The Croatian, who won a bronze medal at the 1998 World Cup with his national team, has also taken control of the nation’s youth teams, and clearly sees these developmental tournaments and opportunities as greatly significant towards developing the national team.