THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has made it hard for the AIFF to organize the national camps, but the Federation is trying to move ahead with it.
The Indian National Senior Men's Team is set to return to action in October, continuing their World Cup / Asian Cup Joint Qualifiers campaign. The U-17 Women's Team, meanwhile, is looking at a historic World Cup debut on home soil in February 2021. Keeping the players apart and away from normal practice during lockdown is hurting their chances to stay prepared. Indian Men's Team head coach Igor Stimac has already made his wishes known regarding this; asking for a two month training camp before the Blue Tigers return to action.
The Federation wants to have these national sides to get back on track with camps starting from August. For the U-17 Women's Team, the camp may be held in Jharkhand, while Goa is also being considered as a potential venue.
AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said in a web event,
"We have 8-10 girls from Jharkhand in the U-17 squad. The chief minister Hemant Soren has himself expressed interest to host the camp in his state."
As for the senior men's team, they may assemble in Bhubaneswar. where their match with Qatar is scheduled to be held on 8th October. The national team will then travel to Bangladesh for an away match on 12th November, beofore making a quick trip back to Kolkata to face Afghanistan on 17th November.