Igor Stimac urges PM Modi to help India get green signal for Asian Games

Igor Stimac, a former Croatian professional football player and the current head coach of the India national team, has requested the intervention of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur to allow the Under-23 football team to take part in the upcoming Asian Games in People’s Republic of China.

India men’s football team head coach wrote on Twitter, “Honourable Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi ji, I am not sure if someone would have briefed you about the Indian teams participating in the upcoming Asian Games, where the key global sport “football” team has been deprived from participating and representing the Indian flag. Please allow the Indian national football team to participate in the Asian games.”

The Asian Games will take place from September 23 to October 8 this year in China. The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, will be held in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province.

According to reports, the Indian national team is set to be excluded from the Asian Games because it does not match the Sports Ministry’s criteria of being ranked among the top eight teams in the Asian continent. India is ranked 18th in Asia under the Asian Football Confederation.

Stimac further said in his plea to Modi and Thakur, “So that you could intervene and help the team participate in the Asian Games. There are hopes and prayers of 1 billion Indians.”

In 2018, India was unable to participate in the Asian Games due to the same criteria.

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In his career, Igor Stimac played for Cádiz, a city and port in southwestern Spain, as well as Derby County and West Ham United in England. He reportedly headed the Croatia national team from 2012 to 2013. In 2019, he was appointed as the head coach of India national team.