India prioritise Brazil friendly over ASEAN Cup in October

India have withdrawn from the FIFA ASEAN Cup due to a clash with their international friendly against Brazil, with the decision taken on Wednesday.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said the federation was unable to participate because of its commitment to the Brazil Football Federation. He also cited technical difficulties, with India able to play only four matches during the September 21 to October 6 international window.

“We are unable to participate in the FIFA ASEAN Cup due to our commitment with the Brazil Football Federation,” Chaubey said. “There were technical issues too since only four games can be played during the window. We have informed FIFA, and officials are aware of why we were forced to take this decision.”

Chaubey said the opportunity to face Brazil was too significant to turn down, particularly as India have already played Singapore and Malaysia, their ASEAN Cup group opponents, several times in recent years.

“As discussed in the executive committee meeting, India have played four times in the last three years against Singapore and Malaysia and may get opportunities to play them again. But Brazil rarely happens, perhaps once in a lifetime for Indian players,” he said.

“It’s something that can promote the sport across our country. The ASEAN Cup is an important competition that raised a lot of interest. We will miss that, but we will make the best use of this FIFA international window so that India can play two more friendly matches against quality opponents – teams much higher ranked than India. We can learn a lot from such tough matches.”

India were invited as one of the guest teams for the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup and were drawn alongside hosts Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from September 21 to October 6, while India are set to face Brazil in Kolkata on October 3.