 "All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey during a press conference, in New Delhi. Image: PTI")
All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey’s plan to invite a world-class striker to India and give a “crash course” to Indian strikers in finishing has left the internet users surprised and disappointed. Lack of goals has emerged as Indian football team’s biggest problem of late, with head coach Manolo Marquez forced to convince 40-year-old Sunil Chhetri in reversing his international retirement.
The Indian football team has scored only 7 goals in the last 15 matches since January 2024. They last scored in March and have failed to find the net in their last three matches, which included defeats to Thailand in a friendly and Hong Kong in an AFC Asian Cup third-round qualifier.
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The poor results have put India in the danger of missing the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, after playing in the last two editions.
AIFF admits India facing massive goal-scoring problem
During the AIFF press conference on Friday , the embattled Chaubey admitted the goal-scoring issue and said that reducing the number of foreign players in domestic leagues could be a solution to help the teams pick more Indian strikers.
“For any sport to grow in popularity, it is essential for the national team to perform well. It’s true that our national team has struggled to secure wins against teams such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand and Hong Kong. However, it’s unrealistic to expect wins without scoring goals,” Chaubey said.
“This clearly highlights the lack of goal-scoring abilities and shortage of effective Indian strikers. A practical, collective decision is urgently required to increase match-time for the Indian strikers.
“But how can this be achieved? This calls for a joint discussion among all the stakeholders, to develop a viable and collective roadmap. One possible measure could be the gradual reduction in the number of foreign players allowed in the domestic league, thereby allowing more space for positive Indian strikers.
“All the stakeholders will have to decide collectively. The AIFF cannot take the decision alone.”
Kalyan Chaubey proposes crash course for strikers
However, it was the ingenious idea of proposing a crash course for strikers that took the cake. “We are trying to get a top striker in the world. We will identify 5 or 7 Under-23 strikers and give them a few days’ crash course in finishing,” Chaubey said.
The AIFF president’s bizarre comments left Indian football fans on X furious, as they slammed the federation for downplaying a serious situation and exposing a lack of clear vision.
“Abbe school ka summer vacation camp hai kya? (Is this a school summer vacation?),” a surprised Indian football team fan asked.
Another fan said that the proposed plan is an indication the Indian football is “truly finished”.
One of the Indian football fans said that a crash course in education is a normal thing, but something like this in football would be a first.
“Engineering aur medical coaching ka crash course suna tha but AIFF ke karan striker ka crash course start ho raha hai (Had heard of crash courses for engineering and medical coaching, but thanks to the AIFF, a crash course for strikers is now starting).”