NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is mulling a national camp in Bhubaneswar in early September ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifying round match against Qatar in October.
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, “With regards to the senior men’s team, our plan is to start the camp sometimes in early September. We want the camp in Bhubaneswar as the match against Qatar was scheduled there.”
If it happens, the players will get a month before the match against Asian champions Qatar on October 8.
“We’re in touch with the state government of Odisha as well as SAI. We are expecting to get a response from them. It’s a very tricky situation but we need to come up with the best possible solution given the circumstances,” he was quoted as saying by AIFF TV in a chat.
India are already out of contention for a berth in the 2022 World Cup but they are in the reckoning for a place in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup as it is a joint qualification campaign.
After taking on Qatar, India play Bangladesh (away match) on November 12 and against Afghanistan in Kolkata on November 17.
Asian champions Qatar, who are undefeated, lead the group followed by Oman.
