Kolkata: It was boots before the 2022 under-17 World Cup. In Perth, it was about match day kits for the senior team. Milestone moments for the women’s football teams have had the All India Football Federation (AIFF) caught off-side. Twice.
The uncertainty over match kits for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup had not ended when head coach Amelia Valverde and skipper Sweety Devi were addressing the media in Perth one day before their first game in group C, against Vietnam. The okay from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to kits procured from a local supplier came after that. Cancelled earlier, the official photoshoot could happen only on Tuesday.
On Monday morning, the players received kits that “appear to have been manufactured for the under-15 or smaller athletes and do not fit at least 80% of the 26-player squad,” members of the India’s squad said in a letter to the AIFF. HT has seen the letter.
“Over the past days, players and staff have already faced challenges due to the lack of appropriate clothing during preparation. The arrival of incorrect match kits at this crucial stage has further affected morale and disrupted our focus in the final days leading up to the match,” the players wrote in a signed statement to the AIFF deputy secretary-general Satyanarayan Muthyalu.
AIFF swung into action after that and sourced kits from a European company with outlets in Perth. Working through the night, the kits were ready on Tuesday, said an AIFF official on Tuesday.
The practice kits India are using are from the old supplier whose contract ended last December, the official said. Not authorised to speak to the media, the official requested anonymity. Training in Turkiye and Australia since January 15, India played seven club friendlies in jerseys of that supplier, the official said.
This was after AIFF’s tender for a new kit manufacturer fetched no bids. AIFF asked two other former suppliers but talks reached a dead end, said a second official who also did not want to be named.
“An AIFF staff then went to Tirrupur (in Tamil Nadu) and found a manufacturer who was ready to provide the kits,” said the second official explaining the delay. Ill-fitting shirts then provided a twist to the tale.
In 2022, new boots for India’s under-17 team reached after their final practice session, the delay attributed to the consignment being set by road.
