Finally, some good news for Indian football fans: Kushal Das, the General Secretary of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), has confirmed that Eurosport India would broadcast the games of the Indian men’s national team at the SAFF Championship in 2021.
About the Broadcast
As per rumours on Saturday, the AIFF is preparing to purchase the TV rights for the SAFF Championship 2021 from Public Service Media, a Maldives state-owned corporation (PSM). Khel Now contacted Kushal Das on Sunday morning for confirmation, and he confirmed that India’s matches will be televised in the country by Eurosport.
In March 2021, Eurosport has also obtained the rights to show the Blue Tigers’ International Friendlies (against Oman and the UAE). The telecast of the Oman game was marred by a few technical glitches later, but the UAE game went over without a hitch.
On Monday, October 4, the Indian football team will face Bangladesh in their first game of the SAFF Championship 2021.
Preparations for India’s Next Match
Igor Stimac, the head coach of the Blue Tigers, spoke at a pre-match press conference on Saturday afternoon.
He said: “We came here only four days before. We have to travel to Male on speed boats. There are artificial turfs here. We are protecting our players so that they do not sustain injuries. The players know each other very well. So, I rely on them to carry out the duties and instructions on the pitch. We want to enjoy the tournament and not have any nervousness.”
Meanwhile, India captain Sunil Chhetri stated that the team is not concerned with how far they would progress in the SAFF Championship 2021.
“That’s a general sentiment outside. If you are playing for the country, you want to win every game. Sometimes you get hard opponents, sometimes you are playing at home and sometimes you are playing away. When we go into a tournament, we don’t think about whether we will reach the final and who will we play,” he said, before adding: “No matter who you are as a team you can never think like that. You are thinking about Bangladesh and it will be a hard game. We have played Bangladesh twice and both the games have been difficult for us.”
