Igor Stimac, head coach of the Indian men’s football team, wrote a long letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to permit the Indian squad to compete in the 2018 Asian Games.
Stimac took to his Twitter account to share a lengthy note on Monday requesting Prime Minister Modi to look into the matter. He also tagged Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.
As per the reports, the Indian football team have been denied participation in the Hangzhou Asian Games because of to the government’s criteria of being ranked in the top-8 teams in the continent.
The Blue Tigers are presently ranked 18th in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), whereas India is ranked 100th in the FIFA rankings.
In his tweet, Stimac penned, “A humble appeal and sincere request to Honourable Prime Minister Sri @narendramodi ji and Hon. Sports Minister @ianuragthakur, to kindly allow our football team to participate in the Asian games. We will fight for our nation’s pride and the flag! Jai Hind.”
Check out the tweet here!
The tweet also includes a statement about how the Indian team was denied participation in the Asian Games. Stimac insisted on how the U-23 team, a quality bunch of players, is being rejected for ‘unjust’ reasons.
The Croatian coach also mentioned how Prime Minister Modi’s recent statement about Kylian Mbappe touched the hearts of Indian fans during his tour to France.