The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) is the youngest of the 5 AFC regional associations and is seeking to invite India for a number of competitions sooner or later.
In an interplay just lately, Ulugbek Karimov, basic secretary, CAFA, stated: “India was invited by CAFA for one of our youth competitions a year back. However, they could not join. We are happy to invite teams from other regional associations as it contributes to friendly cooperation and also makes our tournaments interesting and competitive. Of course, if there is a possibility, we would consider inviting India to our CAFA tournaments in the future.”
With 4 extra slots accessible for Asia from the following FIFA World Cup, one of many six members from this area could possibly be in competition for it.
Players from the CAFA area have taken half in Indian leagues like Mirlan Murzayev (Kyrgyzstan) who performed for Chennaiyin FC within the ISL.
Commenting on India’s progress within the sport, Karimov stated, “India is a huge market in terms of the football ecosystem and football is growing there.
“The visibility of the league is huge and it is a great platform for the development of players, including those from the Central Asian region.”