Why have Mumbai City FC players been released from India's SAFF Championship 2026 squad after matchday 1?

Valpuia, Farukh Choudhary & Noufal return to Mumbai City after featuring in India’s first SAFF Championship 2026 match.

India’s SAFF Championship 2026 have suffered a major blow as Farukh Choudhary, Noufal PN and Hmingthanmawia Ralte (Valpuia) have all been released from the national team squad to return to their club, Mumbai City FC in the November international break.

This was recently informed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), when they named the squad for the upcoming New Zealand friendlies which will be led by head coach Khalid Jamil.

This comes at a time when Naushad Moosa is already dealing with a depleted squad in the SAFF Championship 2026 with players like Bijoy Varghese, Muhammad Suhail, Tomba Singh and Liston Colaco already not being part of the squad despite getting named initially. Along with this, Ronney Kharbudon of FC Goa and Suresh Singh Wangjam of Bengaluru FC will also not feature in the SAFF Championship 2026 due to injury.

This raises a serious question on how the All India Football Federation (AIFF) dealt with this situation, and particularly about the arrangement between the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Mumbai City FC regarding releasing the players before the international window and sending them back as soon as it started, which is funny and concerning at the same time.

What was the agreement between AIFF and Mumbai City FC?

Khel Now can report that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had an agreement with Mumbai City FC to release three players for India’s opening SAFF Championship match against Pakistan before the start of the November international break, with an understanding that the players would return to Mumbai City in the international break, an agreement which surely sounds very confusing and frustrating.

So, this means that with the Indian Super League (ISL) underway, the clubs are not obligated to release their players for the national camp, and this is what happened with NorthEast United not sending Macarton Nickson and Md Rabeeh for the opener, with them even featuring for the club in ISL during India’s matchday.

However, Mumbai City’s Farukh Choudhary, Noufal PN and Hmingthanmawia Ralte (Valpuia) were available for the opener and even played a crucial role against Pakistan but would now not remain with the national team for either the SAFF Championship 2026 or the New Zealand friendlies.

It remains unclear who negotiated this on behalf of AIFF, and this could severely impact India’s SAFF Championship 2026 campaign due to the circus created by AIFF.

Also Read: India head coach Khalid Jamil names 23-member squad for New Zealand friendlies

A questionable decision from AIFF

This is a genuinely questionable decision-making from AIFF and the approach of managing two different national team assignments at the same time.

While balancing the two assignments equally is very necessary, but the decision to have these three Mumbai City FC players (Valpuia, Noufal and Farukh Choudhary) unavailable for both the squads after just one SAFF Championship 2026 match is a poor decision and a mockery by the federation.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) must make it clear on what basis was this arrangement made and more importantly who were involved in this negotiation.

Now Naushad Moosa’s task becomes even tougher to perform well in the remaining SAFF Championship 2026.

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.