India pulls out of ASEAN Cup to prioritise friendly match against Brazil
India have withdrawn from the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup, opting to prioritise their high-profile international friendly against five-time world champions Brazil in October, All India Football Federation (AIFF) deputy secretary general M Satyanarayanan said on Thursday.
India’s withdrawal from the upcoming tournament also means they will miss the opportunity to face some of Southeast Asia’s leading sides in a FIFA-sanctioned competition.
“We have pulled out of the FIFA ASEAN Cup since we can’t play both Brazil and the FIFA ASEAN Cup,” Satyanarayanan told PTI.
The inaugural tournament was conceived as a new international competition for teams from the ASEAN region, with India invited as one of the non-ASEAN participants.
India had initially accepted FIFA’s invitation to participate in the new tournament and were subsequently drawn in Division 1 Group A alongside Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The competition is scheduled to be played during the September 21-October 6 FIFA international window.
However, India’s commitment to play Brazil on October 3 at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium created a scheduling clash.
The AIFF had earlier explored the possibility of fielding a separate or developmental squad in the ASEAN Cup, but has now opted to withdraw altogether and use the international window for friendlies.
The match against Brazil was officially announced last month.
Meanwhile, reports on Thursday suggested that India are exploring friendlies against teams that featured at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Cabo Verde and Iran among the sides being discussed. However, those fixtures have not yet been officially confirmed by the AIFF.
The AIFF’s decision marks a significant change from its plans earlier this year, when it had accepted FIFA’s invitation and signed the participation agreement.
India, who failed to qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, have struggled to secure regular high-quality opposition in recent years.
It’s learnt that only one bid has been submitted for the media rights of the Indian Super League, which is scheduled to start on September 4. The extended deadline to submit bids for the ISL media rights ended on August 12.
If sources are to be believed, the lone bidder is a digital streaming platform with no linear TV channel.
It is to be seen what the AIFF and the ISL clubs will proceed on the matter as linear television broadcast will be key to the fans’ interest in the top-tier league.
In the ISL 2025-26 also, the media rights holder (FanCode) had sub-licensed the linear TV broadcast rights to Sony Pictures Networks India, while it retained the exclusive digital streaming rights.
The AIFF floated the RFP (Request for Proposal) for ISL 2026-27 media rights on July 25. That was after the AIFF and the participating teams agreed to a club-led model for two years, extendable to four, with the national federation keeping the administrative and core regulatory functions.
