August 21, 2025

New Delhi: A spicy twist in Indian football drama! The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday cleared up confusion about Subhasish Bose's injury. Mohun Bagan Super Giant's captain was hurt in the Indian Super League (ISL) final on April 12, and not during the Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh in March as some thought. In a sharp letter to Mohun Bagan, AIFF quoted the national team's medical experts to prove their point. "Subhasish Bose was not injured during the AFC Asian Cup - 2027 qualifier match vs Bangladesh on March 25th, 2025 in Shillong, where he played 85 minutes and was substituted on a tactical decision and not due to any injury," said AIFF deputy general secretary M Satyanarayan. What next? After that March game, Bose played full matches in the ISL semifinals on April 3 and 7, and the full 90 minutes in the ISL final on April 12, where he was finally substituted. Soon after joining the National Team camp on May 18, he complained of right groin pain. Turns out, he told the medical team, "he had sustained an injury to his right groin during the final of ISL on 12th April 2025." The ISL final was thrilling – Mohun Bagan edged out Bengaluru FC 2-1 in Kolkata. But wait, the headline here is the club did not inform AIFF about Bose's injury earlier. "After the injury, what he did was take rest only and attended the camp with a lay-off of more than a month. No investigations or rehab was done during that period. This was not informed to the national team medical department or the support staff by the club," the letter added. Once Bose started feeling slight discomfort, AIFF lowered his training load and gave him five days of rest alongside special rehab sessions. Eventually, he was released from the camp on June 5 on doctor's advice. "Though he was symptomatically better and the coach wanted him for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier match on the 9th of June, given his persistent vague discomfort and the risk of aggravating his injury, he was released from the camp upon the medical team's advice on 5th June 2025," the letter revealed. The AIFF medical team has been regularly checking on Bose while he recovers with his club's doctors. Meanwhile, fresh fire was added when Mohun Bagan refused to release players for the national camp ahead of the CAFA Nations Cup. Their reason? The tournament wasn’t in a FIFA international window, and they slammed AIFF for "negligence" over player welfare. An official vented to PTI, "Every time they take our players, three-four of them return injured, and the AIFF is least bothered to communicate, compensate, or even check on them. Look at Bose... He is under rehab, has missed the entire season so far, we are paying his salary, and yet the federation hasn't even called once to inquire about him." In all this chatter, seven Mohun Bagan players were in the 35 probables squad picked by India's new coach Khalid Jamil. The tussle between club and federation adds extra drama to Indian football’s buzzing scene. Stay tuned for more updates from the frontlines of Indian football!

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Tags: Subhasish bose, Mohun bagan super giant, Aiff, Isl final injury, Asian cup qualifiers, Football controversy,