The All India Football Federation (AIFF) won’t ship its senior nationwide males’s workforce on a chartered flight to Abha in Saudi Arabia. Confirmation got here on Wednesday lower than one week after AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey had promised India head coach Igor Stimac of flying instantly for India’s World Cup qualifier in opposition to Afghanistan on March 21.
India’s gamers pose for the group image earlier than the beginning of the Qatar 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group B soccer match vs Syria(AFP)
The squad is scheduled to fly out on Friday. “They will fly to Jeddah from Delhi and from there to Abha,” an AIFF official mentioned on Wednesday. Cost and unavailability of plane that would carry the contingent of 40-odd together with employees had been why a chartered flight couldn’t be organized, the official mentioned. The official didn’t need to be named.
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Those within the squad from the FC Goa-Bengaluru FC match in Goa on Thursday will journey individually. The first batch leaving from Delhi will attain Abha on Friday night. The group from Goa are scheduled to achieve Abha round midday on Saturday.
The improvement comes after final Friday’s media launch from AIFF quoted Chaubey as saying {that a} chartered flight can be organized to unravel the “genuine logistical problems the team could be facing while travelling there.” This was a part of AIFF’s “no-compromise stand on issues related to the national team,” Chaubey had mentioned. Stimac had identified that India must change flights and which might price gamers “two days of training and acclimatisation at Abha which is 2270m above sea level,” as per the media launch.
AFC seeks proof
On Tuesday, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) requested former AIFF authorized head Nilanjan Bhattacharjee for proof to again his allegations in opposition to Chaubey. The former authorized head has until March 18 to submit “a full written report.”
“We confer with the connected media articles by which we word that allegations referring to corruption have been made by you in opposition to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) President, Mr Kalyan Chaubey.
“In light of the seriousness of this matter, we kindly request that you provide the AFC with a full written report… by 18 March 2024 at the latest,” Barry Lysaght, deputy secretary to the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee, wrote to Bhattacharjee.
Chaubey had written to AIFF members and officials denying the charges. At its annual general meeting in Itanagar on Sunday, AIFF had passed a resolution saying the “private assaults” on its president were “motivated” and “outright insult” to all its members.
“I will speak up if I find something is wrong. The allegations were found to be baseless by AIFF at its AGM and that does not change with AFC asking for information. Anyone can make allegations but why is he not providing proof to back them,” mentioned NA Harris, AIFF vice-president. “The AIFF is solidly behind Mr Chaubey,” mentioned government committee member Menla Ethenpa.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
