India's football coach Stephen Constantine has apologised for his comments on the country's team that had participated in the FIFA under-17 World Cup last year.
Constantine's comments came during a press meet on Sunday where he questioned the hype surrounding the under-17 team. He later issued a clarification and stated his comments were misinterpreted by the media. The English coach then took to Twitter on Monday to apologise for his comments.
“I just wanted to apologise to everyone for my recent comments on the U17s. I am here in India for the best part of seven years and the last thing I want to do is offend anyone. I have the greatest respect for the AIFF and football in India and always give them my 100%,” he wrote.
The FIFA Under-17 World Cup was hosted by India in October last. Being the host, India gained automatic qualification to the event where they were placed in Group A along with the USA, Ghana and Colombia. The team had lost all their group games and scored one goal.
“There was a lot of hype on the under-17 team. They didn’t win any games in the World Cup and I am not quite sure what the hype was about. We did okay but I never saw why we were making such a big deal out of the under 17 team.
"They didn’t qualify to the World Cup, they hosted it. I think too much was made. They went to the World Cup that was hosted by us. So did they pull any trees? They lost all three games. Then they played in the I league and came last. It’s not the question of blaming federation but that was what it is,” Constantine had remarked.
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