‘You cannot throw the rule book at anyone, it won’t help’

Players belong to the clubs so negotiations are only way to solve Asian Games and Olympics issue, says AFC secretary general

The last few days had been bitter ones for Indian football. Many of the country’s premier clubs were reluctant to release players for the Asian Games and the National coach Igor Stimac could not even have a single training session before playing in Hangzhou.

There was a lot of emotional noise all around, certainly not the right send-off for the team.

But Datuk Seri Windsor John pointed out that the problem was only likely to get bigger everywhere in the next few months.

“This is not only an Asian Games problem but also an Olympics problem. Because these matches are played on a non-FIFA window. So, the clubs are not obliged by the rules to release their players,” said John, the general secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, in a chat with The Hindu.

“Don’t forget, the players belong to the clubs. They are the ones taking care, so it’s always a good understanding between the clubs and the association that can solve the problem. You cannot throw the rule book at both sides — the federation or the club — it does not help anyone. It becomes very emotional if there is no proper discussion.

“For the Olympics, even the FIFA (world body) cannot force clubs to release players.”

A few decades ago the world’s best, irrespective of age, played at the Olympics but from 1992 after negotiations between FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, football at the Olympics became an under-23 event and from 1996, three players over 23 were also allowed in.