India have been invited to hitch subsequent month’s Central Asian soccer Nations Cup in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
India have been invited to play within the Central Asian Soccer Affiliation’s (CAFA) Nations Cup subsequent month, the regional soccer federation has confirmed, alongside FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers Iran and Uzbekistan.
The second version of the match – Iran received the inaugural occasion in 2023 – will run from August 29 to September 8.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are the host international locations.
The regional match illustrates a big thaw in diplomatic ties between Central Asian international locations after many years of tensions and conflicts for the reason that fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
“With one month to go, preparations are in full swing to ship a match aimed toward creating soccer and strengthening worldwide collaboration throughout the area,” CAFA mentioned.
Along with India, the six members of CAFA – Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – will compete.
Oman was additionally invited and can play within the match for the second time.
Kazakhstan, an enormous nation in Central Asia and a significant regional energy, might be notably absent from the match as it’s a member of UEFA.
Uzbekistan’s historic qualification last month for the World Cup finals was seen as an emblem of the fast rise of soccer in Central Asian international locations, historically extra profitable in fight sports activities than group sports activities.
In recent times, the previous Soviet republics of Central Asia have made a number of notable breakthroughs.
All get pleasure from robust state help, with CAFA headed by the son of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
The Indian males’s nationwide group are at present with no coach, whereas the Indian Tremendous League (ISL) – India’s prime home competitors – is in peril of collapse following a dispute between the federation and its business companion.
The current turmoil led Sunil Chhetri, India’s celebrated veteran striker, to put up on X concerning the destiny of the ISL.
“All people within the Indian soccer ecosystem is nervous, harm, scared concerning the uncertainty we’re confronted with,” he mentioned.