India football coach Stephen Constantine today expressed displeasure at I-League clubs not releasing players called for national camp for SAFF Championships which begins here tomorrow on the pretext of playing in the just-concluded Indian Super League.
I-League club Bengaluru FC did not release nine players for the national camp which began on December 10 in Kochi, saying that they need rest after playing a lot of matches this year, including in the ISL which ended on December 20.
Among the nine players were India captain Sunil Chhetri and his strike partner Robin Singh and midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who are key players in the Indian national team. However, many of them, including Chhetri, have finished their ISL engagements as their sides could not reach the semifinals.
Constantine did not take any name but it was clear which club he was directing his remarks to.
"It's always nice to play in your own country. But the irony is that we have not been able to have 11 vs 11 games prior to this morning despite having summoned a preparatory camp since December 10," he said at the pre-tournament press conference.
"Though we had called for players in the camp earlier in an effort to prepare better for SAFF Suzuki Cup, the strength in the camp was not enough to prepare. At a time we were reduced to just 14 players and there was no way we could conduct our practice properly. It is also hard to judge players from just one session," he said.
The Bengaluru FC players joined the camp only on December 20 while Mandhar Rao Desai and Romeo Fernandez -- both players of FC Goa which played in ISL final on December 20 -- did not turn up for the camp at all.
Bengaluru FC even did not release Daniel Lalhimpuia, Udanta Singh and Alwyn George -- all non ISL Players -- for the camp and Constantine regretted that he "could not have a look at them as they did not turn up."
Regarding Desai and Fernandez, he said, "We were expecting them in the Camp but they did not turn up."
Constantine had earlier released an injured Sandesh Jhingan, Cavin Lobo and Seityasen Singh from the camp.
"I just don't care as to who plays where. If you are good, you will find a way into my squad. That has always been my philosophy and it will always be the same. I have never gone by the names and the Clubs you play for and will not do so ever," Constantine said.
"If you look at the squad, we have a couple (K Zain and Arjun Tudu) from the Army and another Player (Kaushik Sarkar) from SAI, Kolkata," he said.
India, who have been clubbed in Group A with Nepal and Sri Lanka, play their first match against Sri Lanka on December 25. SAFF Championships opens here tomorrow with a match between Nepal and Sri Lanka.
