Kolkata: The All India Football Federation’s executive committee on Monday extended India’s senior men’s team head coach Igor Stimac’s contract till the end of the AFC Asian Cup-2023, a day after its Technical Committee recommended the same.
“The Executive Committee endorsed the Technical Committee’s recommendation to extend Senior Men’s Team Head Coach Igor Stimac’s contract till the end of the AFC Asian Cup 2023.
The Committee also recommended that should India make it to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, the coach’s contract should be automatically renewed.” an AIFF statement said. The EC meeting was presided over by AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey.
The AIFF has recommended that former football stars Arun Ghosh, Shabbir Ali, and IM Vijayan be nominated for the Padma Shri award. It has nominated Manoranjan Bhattacharya for the Major Dhyan Chand Award and Jeje Lalpekhlua for the Arjuna award.
The AIFF president opened the proceedings by informing the Committee about his development talks with the Government and the Qatar Football Association.
“The Government is going to lend large-scale support to help popularise football. We have plans to have U-17 Women’s Football events across 30 cities, where young girls can play and learn about the sport. It is our hope that such initiatives will further help inspire more young kids to take up the beautiful game.
“We have also had fruitful talks with the Qatar Football Association, and they are going to help us in various areas with respect to the development of football in India,” said the President.
Chaubey informed that FIFA President Gianni Infantino may travel to India in the last week of October, to call upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the way forward for Indian Football.
