India vs Palestine friendly in doubt as FIFA removes fixture from its website

THE UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY between India and Palestine seems to be in doubt.

The game, previously listed among the FIFA fixtures, has been removed from the official website of the world football body.

The Blue Tigers, fresh out of an away win against Macau in the Asian Cup Qualifiers, were supposed to play Palestine on 2nd October as preparation for the home fixture against Macau, where a victory will confirm India's participation in the Asian Cup finals to be held in 2019.

The AIFF was reportedly considering hosting the match in Gujarat's newly built football arena TransStadia, while Andheri's Mumbai Football Arena was also in contention to host what could be India's most high profile international friendly since they faced Puerto Rico in Mumbai last year.

An AIFF official, when contacted by TFG, did not wish to comment on the matter. But the fact that the FIFA website, which is frequently updated to reflect the latest information on match schedules, has removed the fixture does not bode well for India.

Earlier this summer, Lebanon, another middle eastern country, cancelled its trip to India for an international friendly. India ended up playing Nepal instead.

At this point it's unclear which side may have initiated this potential cancellation, but it wouldn't be the first instance of the Indian national team's schedule being disrupted during the ISL pre season. Last year, reluctance from ISL franchises to release players for the national camp forced AIFF to cancel India's exposure tour of USA which was planned for months by coach Stephen Constantine. 

When TFG spoke to Constantine in Macau, he said he was eagerly looking forward to playing Palestine,

"It's going to be an important game for us ahead of the next Asian qualifier. Just like the matches against We needed the Tri-Series ahead of tonight's game because the players were coming off the summer break. Now they will go back to their clubs and we'll have them back three-four days before the match. So hopefully they'll be in good shape."

If India does play a friendly ahead of the match against Macau on 11th October, the players will spend about two weeks in the national camp, which will boost the Blue Tigers' chances to secure their coveted Asian Cup qualification.