Indian women’s football team to travel abroad for international matches

Jamshedpur, Sep 24 (PTI): The Indian women’s football team will play multiple international friendlies, starting next week in the UAE, as part of its preparation for the 2022 AFC Asian Cup at home.
According to the itinerary unveiled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the women’s team, which has been training in a camp in Jamshedpur for around a month, will play two friendlies against the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia. The team will leave for the UAE on September 30.
The Indian Women’s Team will then travel to Bahrain to play two more friendlies against Bahrain and Chinese Taipei.
That is likely to be followed by a brief stint in Sweden, where they are set to face two Damallsvenskan league teams, subject to permission to Indian citizens arriving in Sweden from relevant authorities.
“Besides the four matches against UAE, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei and Bahrain, we also have two confirmed matches against two Swedish premier league teams,” Head Coach Thomas Dennerby said in a release issued by AIFF. “We are in the process of sorting out the travel protocol to the country as entry of Indian citizens to Sweden is still not open yet.
“I appreciate the efforts of the AIFF in finding us teams willing to play matches against us under such circumstances.”
Dennerby said the quarantine rules in different countries in wake of COVID-19 has left India with very few options.
“We have been training in Jamshedpur for a month, in our quest to prepare for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2020 (January-February),” he said.
“Unfortunately, the current pandemic situation is tough and the reality is that there are different quarantine restrictions in different countries which kills many options for the Indian teams as entry for Indians in some countries is either still not yet open, or involves a major quarantine period.”