New Delhi: Croatia’s World Cupper and former manager Igor Stimac is set to become Indian football team’s head coach after the AIFF’s Technical Committee Thursday recommended his name for the top job.
The 51-year-old Stimac, a member of the Croatian team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, got the nod from the Technical Committee which interviewed four shortlisted candidates on Thursday.
“We have recommended Igor Stimac’s name to the All India Football Federation’s Executive Committee after interviewing all the four candidates. We found him as best suited to become India coach,” Technical Committee Chairman Shyam Thapa told PTI.
The AIFF is likely to officially announce Stimac’s appointment as India coach on Friday. Stimac’s contract is likely to be for three years initially and his first assignment will be the Kings Cup international tournament in Thailand.
Stimac’s first match as India coach will be against Caribbean nation Curacao in the Kings Cup at Buriram in Thailand on June 5. A national camp is expected to begin here from May 20. The India head coach’s position has been lying vacant after Stephen Constantine quit the post following India’s AFC Asian Cup campaign earlier this year. Stimac was the only candidate who turned up in person for the interview while the other three — South Korean Lee Min-sung, Spaniard Albert Roca and Hakan Ericson of Sweden — were interviewed via skype.
The newly-appointed Technical Director Doru Isac was also present during the interview process. After the interview process, the Technical Committee had a long meeting of nearly four hours in which the members debated at length about the suitability of the candidates.
The discussion was basically about choosing between Stimac and Roca, who had a successful two-year stint as Bengaluru FC head coach in 2016-18. Stimac’s impressive credentials as former player and manager clinched the issue in his favour.
“His (Stimac’s) experience as former player and manager is huge, so the Committee was unanimous in the decision to pick him. Salary-wise and in every aspect I feel he is best suited. Indian football will be in safe hands under him,” Thapa, a former India player himself, added. (PTI)
