The exclusion of the Indian football teams (both men and women) from the upcoming Asian Games (August 18-September 2) in Indonesia has led to quite an uproar in the football fraternity. The noise levels went several notches higher after Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra defended the decision of including lesser known sports like pencak silat, kurash and sepak takraw saying that these sports are, "potential medal winners and there is no place for also-rans in the squad." Former India U-23 head coach Savio Medeira called it a sorry state of affairs.

Sad state of affairs
"It's really sad. Even after seeing the strides Indian football has been making of late which is reflected in the rankings, this is disappointing. Who can guarantee a medal from the participants? Winning and losing is part of every sportsperson's life. At a time when India has qualified for the Asian Cup in January, there could have been so many positives had we played at the Asian Games," Medeira told mid-day yesterday.