Club vs Country – FC Goa refuses to send players to SAFF cup even post-ISL
Indian national Football team coach Stephen Constantine cut a sorry figure on Tuesday evening after clubs refused to send their players for national duty leaving the coach with no clue about his final squad for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship, which is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday evening at the Greenfield stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Joining the chorus of Indian Super League (ISL) clubs Delhi Dynamos and I-League club Bengaluru FC, 2015 ISL runners-up FC Goa have held back their star wingers Romeo Fernandes and Mandar Rao Desai from joining the national squad.
"We were expecting them in the Camp but they did not turn up," said Stephen Constantine about the duo’s absence.
In a brief email to the federation, the ISL franchise, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons after the ISL finals, said that the duo was ‘injured’, reported The Indian Express.
However, the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) considers this a severe breach of FIFA laws and has threatened to impose ‘severe sanctions’ on the team, if the duo does not report to the camp immediately.
The players, who are already under scrutiny for boycotting the ISL prize distribution ceremony could face more sanctions if they do not report to the camp immediately.
“We have had enough of clubs not releasing players for the national team. It is becoming a very concerning trend and has to be dealt with. If the players are not sent to the team base immediately, the club will face severe sanctions. “
“Unfortunately, in these situations, we will be forced to act against the players too. But not reporting for an international tournament despite being named in the squad is shameful,” said AIFF Secretary Kushal Das, reported The Indian Express.
The wingers’ absence from the camp adds to Constantine’s woes with Sandesh Jhingan, Cavin Lobo and Seityasen Singh already ruled out of the tournament.
Bengaluru FC had also refused to release their players for the camp and only allowed them to join the national team on December 20.
The JSW group owned club’s refusal to release even non-ISL players deprived youngsters Daniel Lalhimpuia, Udanta Singh and Alwyn George the chance to play in the tournament.
Constantine will now lead the team, suffering from injuries and ISL fatigue, to their first match of the championship against Sri Lanka on December 25. India are in a three-member Group B along with Sri Lanka and Nepal after Pakistan withdrew from the tournament. (Read: Teams slam “poor organisation” of SAFF Championship)