⚽️ HT Kick Off: An element of distrustClubs and national federations sparring over players' injuries continues to be vexing problem, says Dhiman in this issue
“Do you know what he has done to Bhaichung,” Subhas Bhowmick barked. Jolted by his call early in the morning after a night shift at work, I mumbled (maybe even grumbled) that I had no idea. Turned out that Bhutia had done his knee in while playing for India in the 2004 LG Cup. Row over BhutiaReports had it that Bhutia had aggravated the injury sustained in training ahead of the first match. Stephen Constantine — the “he” in Bhowmick’s rhetorical question — had rested Bhutia in the opening match but played him against a Vietnam XI. He shouldn’t have, East Bengal head coach Bhowmick bristled. It is another matter that the injury caused Bhutia to miss a home World Cup qualifier against Japan, ironically a match for which Constantine had wanted to prepare for by playing the LG Cup. The spat may have been linked to East Bengal’s stand-off with Constantine before the tournament in Vietnam. East Bengal had refused to release players for the camp till a British physical trainer at the club finished his sessions. East Bengal’s India players were released only for medicals with the national team and joined the camp late. I was reminded of this by the Paris St-Germain-France fracas over Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué. Both were injured on national team duty and will miss Champions League matches against Atalanta and Barcelona. PSG wrote to the French federation calling for “more transparent and collaborative” medical protocols, as per an AP report, after Dembélé was ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury and Doué for four with a calf strain. Club>CountryDeschamps defended France’s medical staff, as doubtless Constantine would have, saying things were done “professionally” and that both were properly assessed before being allowed to train and then play against Ukraine. Replying to whether he would play PSG’s Bradley Barcola against Iceland, the France head coach said: “Then I will have Bayern calling me (about a player), Real Madrid calling. I’m the one who makes the decisions… I always take into account the players’ feelings.” Barcola scored in the 2-1 win and had started the match. Last month, All India Football Federation (AIFF) and Mohun Bagan Super Giant publicly exchanged markedly different interpretations of Subhasish Bose’s groin injury. Mohun Bagan said Bose was injured against Bangladesh and AIFF countered that it was in the Indian Super League nearly one month later. Mohun Bagan justified not releasing players for the CAFA Nations Cup citing AIFF’s poor handling of Bose’s injury. “He’s under rehab… we are paying his salary, and yet the federation hasn’t called even once to inquire about him,” a source at the club was quoted as saying in a PTI report. “The Medical team was keeping in touch with Subhasish regarding his progress while he was rehabilitating with the club medical team,” AIFF said in a statement. Then, Sandesh Jhingan played with a fractured cheekbone against Iran and an “alarmed” FC Goa told AIFF that the centre-back should not have been allowed to continue. The fire was doused only after Jhingan, who will be out for four weeks, said it was his decision to continue. Omar Marmoush has done that too and will miss Sunday’s Manchester derby. Be it East Bengal then, Mohun Bagan, FC Goa or PSG now, there remains an element of distrust between clubs and national teams. This, even after national team players are insured and FIFA ensures clubs are compensated for releasing players for major events. A significant highlightMohun Bagan refusing to do that for the senior or the under-23 national teams increased the difficulty quotient in the CAFA Nations Cup and the Asian under-23 qualifiers. Credit to Khalild Jamil and Naushad Moosa for coping with it. Without 10 regulars, Jamil took India to a podium finish in Tajikistan. The result may make it difficult for the seven from Mohun Bagan he had in his longlist to earn his trust. Beginner’s pluck is not new but rare to football in India. The Asian Games gold in 1951 had come in the first edition; in 2003 Bhowmick’s East Bengal stunned BEC Tero Sasana, finalists in the Asian Champions League final by then, to win the ASEAN Cup and India won the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup when it first became a road to the Asian Cup. Two of these, in 1951 and 2008, were at home. East Bengal won in Jakarta but complementing Bhutia’s red-hot form, Alvito d’Cunha’s ball-carrying skills, Sasthi Duley’s dogged man-marking and Debjit Ghosh’s doughty displays were solid shifts from Brazilian Douglas d’Silva and Polish striker Mike Okoro. Which makes India’s bronze in Tajikistan a significant highlight in a sport blighted by lows on and off the pitch. Check out here what it meant to some aspiring footballers. Moosa’s men narrowly missed out on a first-ever qualification to the under-23 finals and who knows how they would have fared had Mohun Bagan’s Dippendu Biswas, Suhail Bhatt, Priyansh Dubey and Abhishek Singh been part of the roster. Not for the first time have India shown the gap with Asian elites is not huge. Reason enough to get the U23 team more matches and more preparatory camps.
That can be a discussion for another day. The focus will now shift to Asian Champions League 2 where Mohun Bagan and FC Goa start their group league campaigns. Mohun Bagan will host Ahal FC of Turkmenistan on September 16 one day before Goa start against Iraq’s Al Zawraa at home. The group league matches will run till late December with Goa’s big-ticket home match against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr slotted on October 22. “This is a chance to bring global attention to Indian football and its clubs,” FC Goa CEO Ravi Puskur told the club’s website. Play of the week
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In other news10-month ban for hair treatment: Athletic Bilbao centre-back Yeray Álvarez, 30, has been handed a 10-month ban by UEFA for failing a banned substance test due to taking a medicine to prevent hair loss caused by cancer treatment, reports AP. The Spanish defender failed a drug test after Athletic lost to Manchester United in the Europa League semi-final in May and accepted a voluntary provisional suspension in early June, UEFA said. Following an investigation by two inspectors from UEFA's ethics and disciplinary department, the governing body has suspended Álvarez for a period of 10 months. The ban will end on April 2 next year and applies to all competitions. Brazil lose: Bolivia kept their 2026 World Cup dream alive by snatching a play-off place with a 1-0 victory over Brazil in El Alto on Tuesday, taking advantage of Venezuela's home defeat to Colombia. Miguel Terceros's penalty on the stroke of half-time proved to be the difference for Bolivia against the five-time world champions, in a match played 4,150 metres above sea level. The victory took Bolivia above Venezuela into seventh place in the final standings of South American qualifying, earning them a berth in next year's continental play-offs for the tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
Super Cup from October 25: All India Football Federation has said the Super Cup will run from October 25 to November 22 with a gap to accommodate an international window and one match day in Asian Champions League 2. The tournament is being planned for 16 teams including three from I-League. Invitations have been sent to all ISL teams and the top six in I-League with the caveat that entries for teams fourth to sixth will hinge on teams above them pulling out. Ange’s back: Ange Postecoglou is back in management after taking over as coach of Nottingham Forest on Tuesday. The Australian was fired by Tottenham in June, but has made a swift return to the Premier League — replacing Nuno Espirito Santo. “We are bringing a coach to the Club who has a proven and consistent record of winning trophies,” said Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis. Hjulmand for Ten Hag: Former Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand was hired on Monday to lead Bayer Leverkusen as a replacement for Erik ten Hag following the Dutchman's abrupt firing last week. Hjulmand has been out of work since leaving the Danish national team following its last-16 exit at the European Championship in 2024, after four years in charge. It will be Hjulmand's second stint in the Bundesliga, after less than a year with Mainz in the 2014-15 season.
Eriksen joins Wolfsburg: Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen has joined Wolfsburg on a two-year contract, the Bundesliga club said, reports AP. The 33-year-old midfielder became a free agent this summer when his Manchester United contract expired. “Wolfsburg is my first club in the Bundesliga — I'm really looking forward to this new adventure,” Eriksen said in the team's announcement. Eriksen has made 310 appearances in the Premier League. He was at Tottenham between 2013 and 2020. He's also played for Ajax, Brentford and AC Milan. Wolfsburg host Cologne on Saturday. Disallowed goal voted best: Fulham's 18-year-old midfielder Josh King may have been denied his first Premier League goal by a controversial VAR decision last month, but his strike against Chelsea was voted the club's goal of the month for August, the London side has said, reports Reuters. “That he garnered 83.1 per cent of the votes demonstrates how special a moment that was, or would have been," Fulham said. The goal was chalked off after a VAR check ruled that Rodrigo Muniz stepped on Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah's foot in the lead-up. Howard Webb, referees body (PGMOL) chief, said the decision to disallow the goal was wrong. You may also be interested in:
Iconic momentSpence makes history
Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence made history on Tuesday when he came off the bench in Belgrade to become the first Muslim to earn a senior cap for England. Spence, 25, replaced Chelsea's Reece James in the 69th minute of England's 5-0 World Cup qualifying victory. “I was surprised because I didn't know I was the first, so it's a blessing,” London-born Spence said. Spence's first England appearance is a landmark moment for British Muslims who are under-represented in professional football in the country, despite making up 6% of the population. Watch Spence's video here. Also readWhat has stopped Mbappe from being disgusted with football No surprises for European heavyweights in World Cup qualifiers They said it
That’s all for this week. As always, I look forward to your feedback. You can either write to me at dhiman@htlive.com, or reply to this mail.
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