New Delhi, March 27 -- Indian football hit a new low on Thursday after the men's senior team head coach Khalid Jamil and three players were denied entry into the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi over alleged payment issues.

Jamil, along with Ashique Kuruniyan, Sahal Abdul Samad and Bijoy Varghese, was stopped at the gates by security personnel of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA).

It disrupted the pre-match press conference and Jamil and his players returned to the hotel after waiting for a few minutes. Even the media personnel attending the press conference were not allowed inside. The Indian football team are in Kochi to play an AFC Asian Cup qualifier match against Hong Kong on 31 March.

Notably, Kochi i...