India vs Macau Asian Cup qualifier rescheduled to avoid clash with Australia ODI

New Delhi: The Indian football team will have to wait for an extra day to seal their spot for the 2019 Asian Cup. The national team were to play Macau in their Group A qualifying match in Bengaluru on October 10. However, at the request of the broadcasters, the match has been postponed by a day because it clashed with Team India's ODI against Australia.

The Australian cricket team arrived in India on Friday for a five-match ODI series followed by three T20Is. The second game of the series will be played in Guwahati on October 10, the same day as the football team's Asian Cup qualifiers. Although the two matches will be played in different cities, Star Sports wrote to the All India Football Federation (AIFF), saying they did not want to 'dilute' the reach.

The AIFF subsequently approached the Asian Football Confederation, who are the main organizers of the qualifying tournament. It is learnt the official reason given to them was unavailability of the stadium. AIFF general secretary Kushal Das did confirm if this indeed was their official excuse for the postponement.

However, he confirmed that the broadcasters requested the change, which has been cleared by the AFC. They also had to inform the Macau federation before the date was officially changed.

"It didn't make sense to clash it with an ODI so the decision was taken to push it forward by the day. The AFC has agreed to it since it does not matter if the match is held on a FIFA-sanctioned date for an international match.

As per reports, Star Sports pays BCCI Rs 43 crore for each international match.

The value of advertising deals for India's match is valued to be much higher. On the other hand, it does not pay anything to the AIFF for broadcasting the football team’s matches.

India are favourites to win the match, having beaten Macau 2-0 in the away leg last week. That win, India’s third in as many matches in the final round of qualifiers, put India in a commanding position to qualify for the Asian Cup.

The team sits atop Group A with 9 points. The last time India played the continental championship was in 2011, which was the country’s first appearance in more than three decades.