Chhetri, Jhingan and Gurpreet added to Asian Games list and accreditations done: AIFF chief Chaubey

Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s names have been included in India’s official list of men’s football players for the Asian Games in China’s Hangzhou after they had initially been reported missing. It was reported in the media earlier that captain Chhetri, Jhingan and Gurpreet would be India’s three senior players permitted in an otherwise U23 football tournament. All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey confirmed that Chhetri will be part of the team in an interview with news agency PTI. It later came to light that the name of the trio was missing from India’s official list of athletes for the Asian Games, as per a report in the Times of India. The Indian Olympic Association and Chaubey, who is also the joint secretary and the acting CEO of the IOA, had requested the Asian Games organisers to provide ‘accreditation’ to Chhetri, Jhingan and Gurpreet. A letter had been sent to the organisers by the Indian Olympic body, with 15 July being the cut-off date for sending the list. Read | Asian Games participation a victory on multiple fronts for Indian football Later in a chat with RevSportz, Chaubey clarified that though the trio’s names were initially missing from the list, they were subsequently added in an updated version. The former India goalkeeper went on to state that their accreditations for the Hangzhou Games have also been secured, and that they will be on the plane to China in September. “The coach and technical team had sent the list, and these three names were not included. But when it came to my notice, I immediately stepped in and made sure that we sent their names in. When it is a tournament in which the whole country’s passion involved, how can it be that we send a team which isn’t our best team? We will absolutely send our best team to the Asian Games, and the three of them will go. “I can confirm to you that their accreditations are already done, and we have confirmation. So they are now part of the team’s long list. There is one small formality left, and that is OCA approval. I am sure it will get done, and they will for sure travel with the team to China,” Chaubey added. The football competition at the Asiad will run from 19 September to 7 October. The men’s and women’s football teams were earlier not given permission by the Sports Ministry to compete in the Asian Games as they did not meet the criteria of being ranked in the top-8 in Asia but later an exemption from the government opened the gates for AIFF. List of Indian men’s football players for Asian Games: Anwar Ali, Gurmeet, Lalengmawia, Narender, Rahim Ali, Lalnuntluanga Bawitlung, Rohit Danu, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Aniket Anil Jadhav, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Akash Mishra, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Thoiba Singh Moirangthem, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Roshan Singh Naorem, Siva Sakthi Narayanan, Asish Rai, Vikram Pratap Singh, Deepak Tangri, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Suresh Singh Wangjam