Asian Games 2023: Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet, Jhingan get green signal for participation

Initially the trio were not allowed to take part in the Asian Games.

The Indian football team are currently undergoing a purple patch. The Blue Tigers have won three back-to-back international titles on their home soil in a space of just four months. And all of that has led to the Blue Tigers gaining a lot of support and praise from their fans.

But, things did get off track after the Indian Sports Ministry refused to send the Indian national football teams for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in PR China. However, after a lot of requests from the fans and the AIFF, the ministry did give India a green light to participate at the 19th Asian Games.

The deadline to submit the names of the participating players to the official committee was July 15 and to everyone’s surprise the names of Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sandesh Jhingan were left out. Khel Now had previously revealed that these three senior players will be assisting the Blue Colts in the Asian Games.

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey assured the fans that the trio will be allowed to represent India at the Asian Games. And now the good news is that the Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian Games committee have given a green light for the trio to participate, the AIFF President informed the fans through his social media handles on Wednesday.

India at the 19th Asian Games

India have been drawn in Group A of the 19th Asian Games. The Blue Tigers are grouped alongside hosts China, and neighbours Bangladesh and Myanmar. Igor Stimac’s side are the second best-ranked team in Group A behind China, who are ranked 80th on the FIFA Rankings.

The President also informed the fans that this would be India’s strongest representation at the Asian Games. Sunil Chhetri will lead this side in China and will be hopeful to yield a positive outcome and prove their critics wrong.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gurmeet Singh, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.

Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Narender Gahlot, Lalchungnunga, Akash Mishra, Roshan Singh, Ashish Rai.

Midfielders: Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Apuia Ralte, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Rahul KP, Naorem Mahesh Singh.

Forwards: Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav, Vikram Partap Singh, Rohit Danu, Sunil Chhetri.

Head Coach: Igor Stimac.

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