Page 8 - Indian Football

SAFF Championship: Lebanon tops Group B, will face India in the semifinal

Lebanon set up a semifinal clash against hosts India with a 1-0 win over Maldives in a Group B match of the SAFF Championship here on Wednesday. Skipper Hassan Maatouk struck the all-important goal with his curling freekick in the 24th minute. Lebanon have topped the group with an all-win record in the four-team group. Lebanon will take on India in the battle for the summit clash on Saturday. The two teams met recently in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar, where India emerged the winners. The Maldives, ranked 154 in the FIFA Men's rankings, were hoping to punch above its weight by winning against Lebanon, whom they have never beaten in previously. Having already sealed their last-four berth, Lebanon head coach Aleksandar Ilic rested a few of his regular players including Karim Darwich. Lebanon started the match on a positive note, keeping plenty of possession and trying to stretch the Maldives defence. The deadlock was finally broken when Lebanon was awarded

SAFF Championship: Sahal, Mahesh make mark for Team India in the tournament

Amid the loud cheers that have often been reserved for talismanic Sunil Chhetri, two young footballers were quietly making their mark during India's SAFF Championship campaign so far. It's not that Sahal Abdul Samad and Mahesh Singh are unfamiliar names to Indian football afficionados, but they validated their potential to carry forward a rich legacy in Indian football. The duo were particularly impressive against a gritty Nepal whom India beat 2-0 Saturday night at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium to book a semifinal berth. Nepal had erected a defensive hurdle in front of India for a good one hour and the home side needed a moment of inspiration to break free. It came in the 61st minute. Mahesh made a run through the left flank and made a pass to Sahal, who pushed the ball back to the former around a Nepalese defender, setting him free. With oodles of space to work with, Mahesh sent the ball to an unmarked Chhetri inside the box with a laser-guided cross and the Indian captain was nev

India had the chance to host Lionel Messi's Argentina but not enough funds

Argentina were keen to play a friendly match in India, but the AIFF had trouble arranging he required funds

Football: Five bids received for direct entry into I-League 2023-24 season

The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) has received five bids for direct entry into the I-League 2023-24 season with proposals for teams from places like Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru.

Sunil Chhetri announces wife's pregnancy after scoring 86th goal for India

Sunil Chhetri pleasantly surprised fans when he announced his wife's pregnancy after scoring his 86th international goal. India enter Intercontinental Cup 2023 final with 1-0 win over Vanuatu

AIFF chief wants restructuring of I-League for survival of smaller clubs

All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran "personally" feels that the I-League needs restructuring so that smaller clubs can survive by cutting down their players' travel and accommodation cost. Prabhakaran said he will propose a dialogue between the top brass and other stakeholders. He said if the money spent on logistics is reduced, clubs with less budget will survive and that will also help in the I-League having more teams across the country. "I-League is increasingly reaching to new geography and we need to capture new clubs, besides the old ones. The clubs should not put 80 per cent of their money to logistics. Currently, it's only 20 per cent which is going to football, the remaining is going for logistics. It can't be like this," Prabhakaran told PTI. "We have to see how we can reduce the cost of operation of clubs. The idea is not to reduce the budget, but that budget should not be used as cost for flying and for hotel. It could be used for t

AIFF to avoid holding competitions in hot months of April and May in future

The Super Cup and Indian Women's League (IWL) were held in April and May this year but the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday said it will try to avoid holding competitions in these two hot months in future. The Super Cup, competed among I-League and Indian Super League clubs, were held in Kerala from April 3 to 25 while the ongoing IWL in Ahmedabad began on April 26 and will end on Friday. "This month, after the end of women's league (IWL), the football season will end. It will be our endeavour how, considering the weather in our country, we can avoid holding football competitions in April and May," AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said here during the draw ceremony of next month's SAFF Cup to be held in Bengaluru. "We do not want our players to struggle against the tough weather." Another AIFF official told PTI that the 2022-23 season spilled over to May as the calendar was crowded due to the coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaubey said by the end of the South A

AIFF takes strategic steps to reform grassroots football in India

As per the AFC definition, grassroots football is defined as "all football that is non-professional and non-elite"

AIFF's Shaji Prabhakaran elected as AFC's executive committee member

Dr Prabhakaran, on being elected an AFC Executive Committee member, expressed his gratitude, and shared his vision to take Asian football forward

India U-17 Football men's team gears up to face Real Madrid in Spain

The India U-17 men's team is set to face Real Madrid U-17s, at the Ciudad Deportiva del Real Madrid in Madrid on Wednesday in their fourth preparatory game in Spain

India vs Kyrgyzstan: India bags Hero Tri-Nation trophy defeating Kyrgyz

India defeated the Kyrgyz Republic in Hero Tri-Nation friendly trophy and retained the cup, and Sunil Chhetri scored his 85th international goal in this match

ISL 2022-23: Odisha, Goa fight for playoff spot but not against each other

ISL, unlike most football leagues, does not work on a league system, but rather follows an American-style playoff format. As a result, the top six teams at the end of league stage make it to playoffs

Must resolve issues relating to All India Football Federation: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it must bring the curtain down on issues plaguing the All India Football Federation (AIFF), including the objections raised to certain aspects of its draft constitution. "We must now bring the finality...I mean the curtain down on the issue related to the federation (AIFF)," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said. The bench, also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala, asked senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, assisting it as an amicus curiae (friend of the court), to have a meeting with the counsels of all stakeholders and find out key objections to the draft constitution of AIFF. "We will list it for hearing after the hearing of the Constitution bench concludes, the bench said. The amicus said everybody will have some kind of objections. Responding to the query of the bench as to who is heading the AIFF currently after the elections, the amicus said Kalyan Chaubey, a former goalkeeper from West Bengal, is the ...

Messi's World Cup triumph to Ronaldo's fall: Football's journey in 2022

Messi established himself as the greatest of all time by winning the World Cup but Ronaldo had to part ways on a sour note with Manchester United

Indian football on track to achieve something incredible, says Prabhakaran

After couple of years of turmoil and uncertainty that had pushed FIFA to suspend All India Football Federation earlier this year, normalcy has finally returned to football's governing body in country

AFC Asian Cup 2027: India withdraws bid, to focus on grassroots development

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has officially withdrawn its bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 in India, the AIFF and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) jointly notified on Monday

AIFF aiming for 500% growth of Indian football in quality and commerce

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said the management is aiming for 500% growth of Indian football in both qualitative and commercial aspects of the game

The game is lost

Over the past two decades, sport in India has been through a peculiar transformation. The collective interest in games holds only as long as Indians are participating in major tournaments

Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be great football but an ugly game

The next few weeks will be a reminder of how the clash in values of the liberal West and the rich Arab states can play out in the international arena to everyone's dissatisfaction

Want to focus more on India as growing football destination: AFC President

Meeting the new AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, Shaikh Salman extended the AFC's full support towards the growth of Indian Football