India to camp every month from October for AFC Women’s Asian Cup; U-20 women’s team set for Slovenia exposure tour

The Indian women’s team coach Crispin Chettri on Friday said that preparation camps will be held every month from October prior to the AFC Women’s Asian Cup of next year, and steps have been taken to prevent them from colliding with the schedule of the Indian Women’s League (IWL).

Indian senior women and the parties under 20 qualified for the continental show pieces in July and August at the beginning of this year.

«We have already discussed with our players, coaches of clubs and also with the federation. We will organize Kampen, and there will be a longer camp from January before the most important tournament starts,» said Chettri in a press conference organized by the All India Football Federation here.

Chettri said that the camps were not started in the immediate aftermath of the qualification of the team for the selection framework, which will be held in Australia between 1-21 March 2026, because the Senior Ladies National Championship is underway.

“The idea was to organize a camp earlier (than October), but we also wanted to see more players in action during the current senior subjects, so that no individual is omitted to represent our country.

«So that is why we have not organized a camp from now on. So from October, when the senior subjects are over, we can have a few younger players in the camp. I think we want to give them that right chance and that is why we didn’t start the camp,» he said.

India has a challenging attraction in the Asian Cup, which is hidden in group C in addition to Japan, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei.

Chettri said that the team submitted an extensive training program prior to the tournament, including friendly matches at some sides.

Read also | Long camps, young blood and tactical clarity: how the women of India qualified for AFC Asian Cup 2026

“From October we may organize a camp every month and before we go for the AFC we have a longer camp. Maybe we will organize a certain large team in October.

«Maybe we will go to Europe in November and in January, according to the weather conditions in Australia, we travel earlier to Australia or perhaps to a place where we can have similar kinds of conditions for friendly competitions.» The IWL 2025-26 is planned to be played between 25 October 2025 and 30 April 2026 and Chettri said that management, the AIFF and the clubs have already discussed ways to prevent a schedule.

“We have already planned that. We had meetings with the IWL clubs. We also had a meeting with the Competitions Committee and we ensured that they do not clash, and part of the IWL will take place after the Asian Cup.

«Our only problem is Eastern Bengal, which will play in two continental championships. So we juggle it a kind of it. We only hope we get all the players. But all this is planned with the stakeholders,» he described.

U-20 women to go to Slovenia for exposure

The corresponding Asia Cup of the AFC Women Under AFC will be held in Thailand and India will participate in the event after a 23-year gap.

Head coach Joakim AlexanderSson, who has been in charge since December 2024, said that extensive steps have been taken to guarantee a good outing for his departments.

“So first of all we go to Slovenia in October for a few exposure matches against good European opponents and when we come back, the players go back to their clubs and we will use FIFA windows to prepare with more games and camps.

«We will also invite some teams to India to play good games. So it is and from January the IWL will take a break and we will have the last camp,» said Alexanderon.

Published on September 19, 2025