When Igor Stimak agreed to become India manager, it was unlikely his job would include frequent public appeals with folded hands and heart emojis to address the most basic of things.
He had to beg the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to play against decent opponents.
He has contacted the Prime Minister to seek his intervention to ensure that the team will not miss the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Stymark wrote another open letter on Sunday after the government eased rules to allow soccer teams to board flights to China. This time, the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs are being asked to release their national team players.
That’s why Stymark had to make an appeal to the club.
All of his players have signed contracts with the team, and the team’s season starts this week with the Durand Cup and continues until April-May next year.
Unlike cricket, players are not paid for playing in their national team. But the club offers them lucrative rewards — an average national team player earns more than Rs 10 crore a season.
As a result, clubs tend to squeeze every last ounce of energy out of the player to make every paisa they pay him worth. Once the domestic season begins, they control his schedule, game time, training schedule and all off-field activities.
This is not a phenomenon unique to India or football. This is roughly how professional sports work.
conflicting calendars
Yet this well-oiled routine faces an unusual crisis. From September to January, the national team has to play at least one international game every month, which is rare in Indian football.
India will start the busy cycle in Thailand, where they will play in the King’s Cup. Around the same time, the U-23 team will take part in a qualifier for the Asian Championships in China, and a few days later, the U-23 team will take part in the Asian Games with three senior players.
In October, India will travel to Malaysia for the Independence Cup and the joint 2026 World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers next month. A couple of friendlies are expected at the end of December, followed by the big game in January – the Asian Cup.
Among them, the Copa del Rey, Independence Cup, U-23 qualifiers, joint qualifiers and Asian Cup will be held during the FIFA window period. For these games, clubs must release players.
The Asian Games are excluded from the FIFA window, so clubs are not obliged to send players. So Bengaluru FC can refuse to release Sunil Chhetri or Gupreet Singh Sandhu when they have done nothing wrong under football law.
But the struggle isn’t just about player availability. Stymark wants the club to release them over a longer period of time than the usual three days before a match. The former Croatian player-coach wants to extend the training camp so the players are ready to play when they don the blue jerseys.
His views were echoed by all the national team players including Chetri and Sandhu. They point to recent results, as well as their unbeaten run through 2023, which they claim is largely down to non-stop training.
While reservations must be taken when playing at home against lower-ranked opponents, the benefits of training together are undeniable. Over the past few weeks, India has looked more united and healthier than in recent years.
This in turn contributed to Indian football’s unbeaten record and the positive sentiment that followed.
club must read room
Clubs have to start playing. They can’t just focus on the short term and worry about a few matchdays in the ISL, but must focus on the bigger picture.
Because – according to the draw – India has a good chance of qualifying for the Asian Games, finishing second and advancing to the third round of the joint Asian/World Cup qualifier for the first time, and not just a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup.
As has been witnessed in other sports, nothing ignites passion and brings people together more than a good national team performance. Not even one percent of India’s 1.4 billion people care if Team X or Team Y win a few games in the ISL because India still embraces club culture like Europe.
The club must realize that their fortunes are intertwined with those of India. The hundreds of crores they collectively squander every season will be worthless if the national team continues to fail. But if the team achieves half of the goals set this season, they will benefit immensely.
To that end, the club must redouble their efforts to give Stymark and his players the support they need in the coming months.
Stimac shouldn’t have to make a call for every little thing. He has nothing to lose here. But Indian football has a lot to gain.
