All India Football Federation today made it clear that all the national team players who are in the Indian Super League sides will be released on time for the two 2018 World Cup qualifier matches to be played next month.
India take Turkmenistan on October 8 and Oman on October 13, both away matches, and AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said that all the players who are with the ISL teams will be released four days prior to the first match.
"The reports that national teams players in the ISL will not be released for two World Cup qualifiers next month are completely wrong. All of them will be released four days -- inclusive of the match day -- prior to the first match. This is under FIFA rules," Das told PTI.
"So, the players will join the national team on the morning of October 5 and continue to be with the team till the second match on October 13. There was no confusion on that as this was decided by the AIFF and the ISL long back," he said.
Almost all the national team players who took the field against Iran on September 8 are in the ISL teams. The second edition of the ISL begins on October 3 in Chennai.
India play Guam on November 12 in a home match and then take on Iran on March 24 (away match) and March 29 (home match).
