India’s football friendly against Gambia called off
September 13th, 2010 - 8:19 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) India’s international football friendly match against Gambia slated for Sep 19 has been called off as chief coach Bob Houghton was not interested in playing African teams in the national team’s preparations for the Asian Cup in Doha in January.
An AIFF official told IANS that the federation was forced to call off the friendly at the last hour as Houghton stood his ground.
“We have called off the match since coach Bob Houghton was not in favour of playing African teams,” said the official.
Houghton always had some reservations about playing against African teams like Namibia and Gambia. India will play Namibia here Wednesday.
“We are playing the Asian Cup not the African Cup of Nations. My logic was since we are playing an Asian tournament, we should concentrate on playing Asian teams,” Houghton had said last week.
The AIFF is now looking to replace Gambia with a higher ranked Asian team next week. India will play Yemen and Vietnam next month in Pune.
- Houghton will not release footballers for Asian Games - Sep 06, 2010
- AIFF rejects Bob's plan; IMG-RIL to sponsor under-15 team - Aug 25, 2010
- Houghton's alleged racial slur may kick up a 'storm' - Oct 23, 2010
- AIFF upset with Houghton's remarks - Jan 14, 2011
- India's football coach Houghton denies racism charges - Feb 26, 2011
- Houghton's boys face unknown rivals in Namibia - Sep 14, 2010
- AIFF censures Chettri for praising Houghton - Apr 20, 2011
- Houghton's five-year tenure ends after AIFF drops all charges (Lead) - Apr 23, 2011
- AIFF president meets team in Dubai to boost confidence - Jan 04, 2011
- Tough to retain an injured Bhaichung in team: AIFF - Jan 07, 2011
- Houghton feels rankings don't reflect team's quality - Sep 16, 2010
- Houghton hires lawyer against AIFF, denies racist comments - Apr 11, 2011
- We didn't disgrace ourselves, says Houghton - Jan 18, 2011
- I am giving myself another 2-3 days, says Bhaichung (Lead) - Jan 07, 2011
- Chettri doubtful, Bhaichung ruled out for Iraq tie - Nov 10, 2010
Tags: african cup of nations, asian cup, asian team, asian teams, asian tournament, bob houghton, chief coach, coach bob, doha, favour, friendly match, India, international football, logic, namibia, New Delhi, vietnam, yemen