Most of the country’s top clubs have refused to release players for the under-20 national team, leading the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to drop its plan of fielding an under-20 team in the upcoming edition of the I-League. The new project faced significant resistance as several premier clubs declined to support it by holding back their players.

Kalyan Chaubey, the AIFF President stated that - “We will take the available players and give them exposure. Maybe a combined (U-17 and U-20) team can feature in I-League 2. We are currently scouting for players and trying to field a competitive team,”

Previously, the president shared his perspective with TOI, he stated - “We wanted to keep the U-20 team together till the Asian Games (2026) and the AFC U-23 championships.” 

He further stated - “The plan was to ensure that eventually the national team benefits, but these players are contracted with clubs and, as per FIFA regulations, we can't take them unless released by the clubs. Since the clubs are unwilling, we have to look at other players. India is a vast country and it should not be a problem scouting new talent, those not yet contracted.”