India face Cambodia in opener

NEW DELHI, Aug. 9: India will face Cambodia in the opening match of the five-nation ONGC Nehru Cup International football tournament to begin from 17 August at the Ambedkar Stadium. The tournament was initially perceived to be a six-nation event but the refusal of the Iranian football authority to send the national team forces the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to stick to five teams.

“Iran first accepted the offer to take part but then they said they wont be able to send their national team. We then asked of they could send their under-23 team, but they said they could send a club team, which is unacceptable to us,” AIFF general secretary Mr Alberto Colaco said on the sidelines of the unveiling of the Nehru Cup trophy here today. With the absence of Iran, Syria (113 in Fifa list) will be highest rank team in the tournament.

Kyrgyzstan (152) is the next in the list followed by host and former Asian games gold-medalist India (162), Cambodia (170) and former Indian star and coach Syed Nayeemuddin’s Bangladesh (172).

The revival of the tournament is a big boost for the football in the country as AIFF, along with Fifa and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), were trying to revive the game in the country. In that regard AFC has already started two Vision India projects ~ in New Delhi and Manipur ~ and earlier this year had announced two more projects in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In a jocular vein AIFF president Mr Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi accepted the popular demand from various quarters to give more international experience to the Indian national team.

“We accept the demand for more international exposure to the team. From now on we will try to organise more such matches for our team,” Mr Dasmunshi said. He also announced that President of India Mrs Pratibha Patil will inaugurate the event on 17 August.

AIFF worried
It looks like the global security concern has bug the Indian football team as All India Football Federation (AIFF) today expressed its concern about the security of its players who will visit the country in October for the away match for the first round of World Cup Qualifiers.

But the as of now the federation is ready to play in the country. “As of now, we are ready to play in Lebanon. .