Panaji: The India men’s and women’s football teams have missed out on participation at the Asian Games 2026 later this year due to a govt policy that clears only teams which are ranked among the top eight in Asia.India were initially included in both categories. While the men’s team made the cut for the 16-team tournament thanks to their performance at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers where they finished second behind Qatar in the group of four, women’s qualification was left in no doubt after they made it to the 12-team AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.In the final draw, however, India are missing in both categories.The decision will be tough particularly on the women won the SAFF Women’s Championship at home last month and received praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The women’s team competition has been reduced to 12 teams for this edition of the Asian Games.India qualified since they made it to the 12-team AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026. In the final draw, however, Australia – who are not part of Asia – Iran and India have been left out from teams that featured at the continental championship. The teams have been replaced by Hong Kong, Myanmar and Thailand.India women are ranked 69 in the world and 13th in Asia. Lower-ranked Bangladesh (107/19), who lost twice to India at the SAFF Championship, will take part in the Asian Games.At 138 in the latest FIFA world rankings, India men are ranked a poor 26th in Asia.“There are some rules of the govt based on which they depute teams for the Asian Games,” said All India Football Federation (AIFF) deputy secretary general M Satyanarayan. “We have 40 national federations, not all of them send teams. In football, we are not among the top eight in Asia. If we are in the top eight, we would have been at the (FIFA) World Cup.“There is a need to strengthen the league. The stronger the ISL, the stronger our national team will be. We have a nice crop of young players who have done well in continental championships. Hopefully, in the next five to seven years, we should see better performances from the national team.”ASIAN GAMES (FOOTBALL)Women: Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Philippines, North Korea, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, VietnamMen: South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Philippines, Qatar, North Korea, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam