Indian men's and women's football teams get green signal from sports ministry to participate in Asian Games 2023
Anurag Thakur delivered great news for fans on Twitter, confirming the participation of both Blue Tigers and Blue Tigress at the showpiece event.
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The Indian men's and women's football teams received approval on Wednesday from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to compete in the forthcoming Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September to October of this year. The news comes weeks after it was revealed that, in accordance with the current sports ministry criteria, the national football teams would not be competing in the continental competition.
However, earlier this afternoon on Twitter, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur gave supporters exciting news by reaffirming that both Blue Tigers and Blue Tigress would be competing in the main event.
For Indian football fans, there is good news!
The men's and women's national football teams from our country will take part in the 2019 Asian Games.
The Government of India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has agreed to alter the standards to make it easier for both teams to participate who didn't meet the requirements under the previous standard.
The Ministry made the decision to give the relaxation after considering their most recent performances.
I have no doubt that they will compete at their very best and represent our nation honourably at the Asian Games," he tweeted.
According to earlier reports, India was not interested in sending either team due to the team's ranking in Asia, which is also the continent where frequent World Cup participants South Korea and Japan are among others. The government's requirements were loosened after pressure from supporters, including national team head coach Igor Stimac, who urged the government to send the team for the competition.
In a lengthy social media message, Stimac had pleaded with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in and permit the team's participation. On numerous social media sites, the supporters also banded together and promoted the cause with trending hashtags.
The Sports Ministry was hesitant to deploy the contingent to China since the Indian football team did not match their requirement of being one of the top-8 teams on the continent.
