The AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey, at a scheduled media conference in New Delhi on Friday, announced that the process to integrate OCI players into the fold is underway, with the Federation already having scouted players for the same.
Chaubey revealed that AIFF, as per the FIFA statutes and the respective laws of the land, is now actively in the process of recognizing and recruiting OCI players to come and represent the country in the national team. He confirmed that the AIFF is in contact with 33 players eligible for OCI cards.
“The AIFF is in communication with 33 players who fall into the category of OCI. Some of them have received their OCI cards, and others are in the process of attaining the same, with the assistance of the AIFF,” he said.
But at the same time AIFF president divulged saying, “Even if we make a list of 300 OCI players, we cannot go any further unless the green light is given.”
The AIFF president also spoke about a few other important issues related to the national football team. Here are the excerpts:
Need of Indian Strikers
“We are trying to get a World Cup-winning striker to come and help us. Our plans will be to identify 4-5 good strikers from the U-23 and train under him for some days, like practice their shooting skills and hone their goal-scoring instincts.
Indian footballers’ in ISL:
“Our main area of focus is the lack of goal scoring and the shortage of strikers. Anyone in Indian football will agree that is our major problem. One possible measure could be to allow fewer foreigners and thus give more space to Indian strikers in our top-tier domestic league. But I cannot say anything about reducing the number of foreigners in the domestic league. It is the stakeholders’ decision, but in the interest of the national team, if they decide to give more time to Indian positive strikers, I will be happy to accommodate.”
On Bhaichung Bhutia and his allegations
“There are 3-4 people who are running this petition. Either they have been a part of the federation or have lost in the election against my regime, I have been alleged, and my family has been alleged, but as I said, I only speak facts and numbers.
“He [Bhaichung Bhutia] is a respectable player for the Indian football team and one of the best strikers to play for the team. He has been an advisor to AIFF, drawing a remuneration of 1.5 lakhs and all his necessities and expenses taken care of. He is a part of the AIFF Executive Committee and has attended 11 EC meetings, where he could have called out the ‘corruption’; the minutes of the meeting are available and can be watched.
What we did in the last two-and-half years:
“We are planning for 10 years ahead. We should not look at what is happening immediately. We should focus on the 10-year plan we are working on. While the country is bidding for the 2036 Olympics, we are also trying for the 2031 AFC Asian Cup. Blaming is the easiest way but it exposes the weakness in your character.”
AIFF –FIFA Academy boys and their performance
“The boys of AIFF FIFA Academy which was launched in November 2023, took at least 7 months to reach 30 boys from 5400 players. The players started playing in January 2025, under FIFA coaches. These U-14 players from the academy started training in July 2024 and played their first match on February 6, beating U-17 Inter Kashi boys 5-0, Jamshedpur boys 7-0, and Odisha FC 8-1. On 18th May, they played MBSG U-17 boys and won 5-0. Additionally, a team of Arsene Wenger is assisting us frequently to improve grassroots, and we are grateful to him for the way he looks after India.”
Manolo Marquez’s future
“Manolo Marquez is a highly rated coach and has a good understanding of Indian football and the players. However, in the past few days, I have received several calls on whether the coach will continue or not. We will take a call on the issue in our next executive committee meeting on 29th June.
