The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is hoping that the ISL clubs will release any 22 players from the registered 50 for the upcoming Asian Games, allowing the senior men's team to participate in the continental showpiece.
Most of the clubs had shown an unwillingness to release the 22 players named in the Indian squad that was released by the sports ministry, as the Asian Games football competition schedule clashes with the ISL, which starts on September 21.
The federation has also not ruled out the possibility of star players Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu travelling to Hangzhou, China with the team for the quadrennial extravaganza.
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While the Games will take place from September 23 to October 8, the football event will begin on September 19 and last through October 7.
"AIFF is putting every effort to convince the clubs to cooperate to send the strongest national team to the Games," a top official of the federation told PTI on Tuesday.
A federation source added, "AIFF is still negotiating but there is no clarity yet. Chhetri, Jhingan and Gurpreet are still not ruled out. It's up to the clubs to release the players they wish to. Any 22 from the long list of 50 will do."
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Bengaluru FC, FC Goa, and Mohun Bagan Super Giants are among the clubs that have refused to release players for the Games.
The Indian Super League schedule was announced earlier this month, despite concerns that a few Indian players may be released by teams for the Asian Games.
The league overlaps with the Asian Games, where the football competition kicks out on September 19 and runs until October 7.
The Indian men's roster for the Asian Games includes players from ten ISL clubs, some of which are unwilling to release their players.
Six of the 22 players nominated to the squad are from Bengaluru FC, three from Mumbai City FC, and two each from FC Goa, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, Odisha FC, and Kerala Blasters.
Punjab FC, Chennaiyin FC, and Hyderabad FC have one apiece.
The AIFF had also written to the ten ISL clubs, requesting that their players picked for the Asian Games be released in the "national interest."
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) initially declined to clear Indian football teams for the Asian Games since they were not ranked in Asia's top eight.
The AIFF then petitioned the sports ministry to let the men's and women's teams compete in the coveted event, with national senior team head coach Igor Stimac also requesting the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(With PTI inputs)
