Bhaichung Bhutia criticized AIFF for skipping the FIFA ASEAN Cup match with Brazil

IndiaFormer striker Bhaichung Bhutia criticized the Indian Football Federation for its decision to skip the 2026 FIFA ASEAN Cup to play a friendly match with Brazil.

India is a guest of the FIFA ASEAN Cup, taking place from September 24 to October 4, along with China and Hong Kong. However, China then refused to organize a friendly tournament against better quality opponents. On August 12, India also withdrew because it clashed with Brazil on October 3, and was not allowed by FIFA to use the B or U23 squad.

Indian Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey said that meeting Brazil could be "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Indian players". Meanwhile, they have faced Southeast Asian representatives, such as Singapore and Malaysia, many times and will meet again another time.

This decision was met with controversy, as India missed the opportunity to compete with peers and have prize money. Inviting Brazil for a friendly match costs AIFF between 5 million and 7 million USD.

"If Brazil comes to play a friendly match for free, I won't wonder. But paying that much money is a mistake at this time," former striker Bhutia told Indian news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). "Large amounts of money are spent, while many clubs are in serious financial crisis and AIFF also reports financial difficulties."

The former striker born in 1976, who scored 27 goals in 83 matches for the Indian team from 1995 to 2011, called for investing money in building infrastructure and training young people. He also said that AIFF President Chaubey had "misled the Government". He also mocked the Chairman's response by asking the question in reverse. "Brazil can always come. Argentina, Spain, France will also come if they are paid such a large amount of money," Bhutia added.

Bhutia said that India should have chosen to participate in the FIFA ASEAN Cup. The tournament will give the 138th FIFA team a more meaningful competitive environment with strong teams such as Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia. Besides, this is a great opportunity to accumulate more points and improve the ranking on the FIFA table, instead of a match with known defeat against Brazil.

The 50-year-old player said: "Giving up the FIFA ASEAN Cup to play a friendly match with Brazil is a bad decision. It is a tournament recognized by FIFA, with opponents who defeated us in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers."

Bhutia's criticisms appear in the context of club football in India being in crisis. Problems with the copyright agreement of the Indian national championship (ISL) once caused the 2025-2026 season to be delayed, before the Ministry of Sports intervened. Jamshedpur FC went bankrupt and had to transfer it to Churchill Brothers for a symbolic price of 100 rupees, or 1 USD. The defending ISL champion East Bengal, who just won the right to participate in the 2026-2027 AFC Champions League Two, also faces a financial crisis when the sponsor withdraws.

Bhaichung Bhutia asked why AIFF did not support East Bengal with 1 to 2 million USD to build a strong club and compete well in the Asian arena. At that time, Indian football will be able to meet the stars without paying any fees. If they enter the AFC Champions League Elite knock-out round, an Indian club can meet top Saudi Arabian clubs like Al Nassr, where superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is playing.

From being close to the FIFA Top 100, India is falling further and further backwards. Bhutia said this is the result of football being led by leaders who "lack experience, ability and don't really understand football management". He hopes the election later this year will select a new leadership team, to gradually help revive football in a country of nearly 1.5 billion people.

With India's withdrawal, FIFA invited the 181st ranked team, Bangladesh, to replace them in Group A, along with hosts Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Group B has Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan.

Hong Kong, hosting second place, is in Group A with Myanmar and Brunei. Group B has Cambodia, Timor Leste and Laos.

Teams are scheduled to compete in a round robin. In both divisions, the best team from each group will advance to the final. Matches for positions 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8 can be held. Therefore, participating teams will play a minimum of two matches and a maximum of four matches, consistent with a focus period of about 15 days.