Sports Ministry clears Indian men's and women's football teams for Asian Games
New Delhi, Jul 26: The Indian men's and women's football teams are set to participate in the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China after the Sports Ministry decided to relax the existing selection criteria.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had earlier refused to clear the Indian football teams for the Asian Games on the ground that they were not ranked in the top-8 in Asia.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) then appealed to the Sports Ministry to allow the men's and women's sides to take part in the prestigious event with national senior team head coach Igor Stimac also seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.
"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," Sports Minister Anurag Thakur tweeted on Wednesday.
"The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, has decided to relax the rules to facilitate the participation of both the teams, which were not qualifying as per the existing criterion.
"Keeping in mind their latest performances in recent times, the Ministry decided to grant the relaxation. I am sure they will put their best foot forward in the Asian Games and make our country proud," he added.
Since 2002, football in the Asian Games has been a U-23 affair with three players above that age being permitted in a team.
AIFF had earlier planned that Stimac would take an Under-23 Indian side to the September 23 to October 8 Asian Games after the King's Cup in Thailand (September 7-10).
But the AIFF is bullish on sending its first team to Asian Games led by its talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri.
The AIFF has prepared a list of 50 under-23 players and forwarded it to the respective clubs. The idea is to raise another pool of under-23 players, who could be used for the AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the King's Cup in Thailand.
However, the Sports Ministry in a letter sent to IOA and all the National Sports Federations (NSFs) said that "for team events, only those sports which have achieved a ranking up to eighth among participating countries of Asia in the last one year should be considered for participation in Asian Games".
Indian men's team is nowhere close to the top-8 in Asia. It is currently in the 18th spot among countries under the Asian Football Confederation, while the women's side is ranked 11th.
The AIFF then appealed to the sports ministry to reconsider the decision with even coach Stimac making a plea for an exception to be made for the football teams in a social media post.
"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!" Stimac had tweeted, attaching a screenshot of his statement as well.
IOA president PT Usha, however, is said to be not in favour of the national football team's participation in the upcoming Asian Games, for which she had to face backlash from the fans.
But AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, a BJP politician and who also happens to be IOA joint secretary, pushed for football teams' participation in the Asian Games and met Home Minister Amit Shah in this regard.
The Sports Ministry eventually gave a green signal to the football teams.
There is a provision in the Sports Ministry's instructions sent to the IOA and NSFs, "Where, in the opinion of the experts of specific sports disciplines, and that of Sports Authority of India, participation of individuals and teams in relaxation of the above criteria is recommended with justifiable reasons, the same will be considered in the Ministry for appropriate decision."
AIFF president Chaubey thanked the ministry for relaxing the selection criteria.
"Happy to inform that Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs,& IOA have confirmed @indianfootball's participation at #AsianGames I thank Sh @narendramodi sir Sh @ianuragthakur ji & GoI for their support Equally important to our fans for your resolute for #IndianFootball," Chaubey tweeted.
Indian men's team has entered the sub-100 club in the FIFA rankings once again, having won the SAFF championship where it played against Lebanon and Kuwait. It also won the Intercontinental Cup and the tri-nation football tournament featuring the Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar.
The women's team has also done well, beating Kyrgyzstan twice in the Olympic Qualifiers Round 1.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
