“I’m amused at times (when people talk about how poor the Indian team is). I remember the Sports Minister saying this Indian team would lose even to an Australian school team. I don’t know what prompted him to say that but I feel, instead of being cynical he should’ve asked himself why the facilities aren’t there,” Houghton said, announcing the Indian team would leave for training camps in Dubai and Barcelona because of better infrastructure there.

“I know this statement can make the headlines tomorrow — ‘National football coach slams sports minister’ — but I really don’t care. I’ve seen worse things,” Houghton said.

The 61-year-old Englishman, who has coached teams such as China and Uzbekistan and had taken Swedish club side Malmo to the European Cup final in 1979, has been in charge of the Indian team since 2006.

In February, Gill, while felicitating members of the Indian football team at the 1956 Olympics — in which they finished fourth, beating Australia 4-2 in the quarter-finals before losing to Yugoslavia in the semis — had said: “Football is popular and can be played by anyone, that’s why the government has upgraded it to Category A. Players should take inspiration from these legends. The standard of the game has gone down so much nowadays that today we fear we might be beaten by a school team from Australia.”

When contacted, Gill’s office said they were aware of Houghton’s remarks but declined to comment.