Indian team to camp in Turkey, AIFF in talks to rope in foreign coach for help ahead of Women’s Asian Cup

The Indian women’s football team will travel to Turkey for a nearly month-long preparatory camp, including matches against European clubs, ahead of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

The players, who are meeting in New Delhi after playing the first phase of the Indian Women’s League in Kolkata, will leave for Istanbul on January 15, AIFF Deputy General Secretary M. Satyanarayan confirmed. Sports stars.

“The team will stay in Turkey for a month and play competitive matches before traveling to Australia,” Satyanarayan said.

The national team will play against three European clubs between January 18 and 23. After a week’s break, tentatively in the first week of February, the team will play against three national teams in the Turkish Women’s Cup. Although the teams are yet to be confirmed, the likes of Uzbekistan could be part of the squad.

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Satyanarayan also revealed that the Federation is in talks to bring an experienced foreign coach to Turkey to help the team during the camp. While the name has not yet been confirmed, the AIFF official said they are looking at someone who has “recently been with one of the World Cup teams”. “We take this tournament seriously and want to leave no stone unturned during the preparation,” he added.

In November, India, led by head coach Crispin Chettri, was supposed to visit North Macedonia in Europe for an exposure tour but it was forced to be called off due to visa issues. But this time, the Federation is confident about traveling. “We arrange the visas, we have never had any problems with Turkey,” Satyanarayan said.

The Indian contingent will then leave for Australia on February 10, ahead of the opening match of the Asian Cup campaign against Vietnam on March 4. The Blue Tigresses are placed in Group C alongside Japan, Chinese Taipei and the Vietnamese.

India qualified for the continental tournament on merit for the first time in history after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, which included defeating higher-ranked Thailand.

Published on January 11, 2026