Racial abuse is a serious allegation, says AIFF chief Patel

NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel refused to comment on about the allegations of "racial abuse" levelled against national coach Bob Houghton by referee Dinesh Nair but didn't forget about FIFA and AFC's zero tolerance policy on such issues.
"We have a committee that is looking into the matter. I am confident that justice will be delivered.One individual here is aggrieved (Referee Nair) and other is so called accused. But we must know that FIFA and AFC are very strict about charges of racial abuse," Patel told the media persons on Thursday.
About India's performance in the Asian Cup where they conceded 13 goals in three matches, Patel said that tough group that they were clubbed in made matters even more difficult.
"No one can doubt our commitment and sincerity. We had a good development programme in the lead-up to the Asian Cup. We had invested heavily. We paid the contracted players more than what they got from their respective clubs so that they do not lose anything financially. They trained abroad for months. The preparation had never been better. But we were unlucky to have run into toughest group," Patel reasoned.
The AIFF president admitted that the senior national team needs to play more international friendly which will help them improve their rankings.
"The basic problem with our low ranking is much to do with us playing very few international friendlies. We are planning to play a lot more matches from next year," he further added.