New Delhi, July 23: The experienced Anglo-Cypriot Stephen Constantine, Stefan Tarkovic of Slovakia and home-bred Khalid Jamil were among three candidates shortlisted on Wednesday by the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the appointment of the national men’s team head coach.
The technical committee, headed by former captain IM Vijayan, shortlisted two foreigners and one Indian for the post which was left vacant after Spaniard Manolo Marquez and the AIFF mutually agreed to part ways earlier this month following the team’s downward spiral.
“The technical committee zeroed in on three applicants and sent their names for consideration to the AIFF Executive Committee. The shortlisted candidates will be vetted by the AIFF Executive Committee which will take the final decision on who will be the coach,” a source privy to the development said on conditions of anonymity.
Former India international Renedy Singh’s name as fourth candidate did the rounds but an AIFF source said the Manipuri, who is currently the assistant coach of Bengaluru FC, was not among those shortlisted.
He was discussed for the role of assistant coach but later the TC dropped the idea as it would be prudent to take that decision in consultation with the incoming head coach.
Out of the three shortlisted, Jamil appeared to be the frontrunner to get the job.
The AIFF had invited applications for the top job on July 4 with July 13 as the deadline. It received 170 applications, which included big names like former Liverpool stars Robbie Fowler and Harry Kewell.
Other members of the technical committee are Shabbir Ali, Victor Amalraj, Climax Lawrence, Harjinder Singh, Santosh Singh and Pinky Magar.
Constantine has been in charge of the Indian team twice earlier — from 2002 to 2005, and from 2015 to the Asian Cup in 2019. The 62-year-old has also coached East Bengal in the Indian Super League in 2022-23, and was till recently head coach of Pakistan.
He has earlier worked as head coach of countries like Nepal, Malawi and Rwanda.
Jamil, 48, is currently with Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC. He famously guided Aizawl FC, then an unheralded team, to I-League title in the 2016-17 season in one of India’s football fairytale stories.
A former India midfielder and now an AFC Pro Licensed coach, Jamil was named AIFF Coach of Year for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
He has played 40 matches for India between 1998 and 2006. He spent most of his club career with Mahindra United, Air India and Mumbai FC. He has also coached East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and NorthEast United.
A former player, the 52-year-old Tarkovic was coach of Slovakia national team from 2020 to 2022. He was then Kyrgyzstan coach in 2023-2024.
It is learnt that the AIFF is in favour of making the appointment quickly without interviewing the shortlisted candidates as there is a FIFA international match window in September and India play their AFC Asian Cup qualifying round games on October 9 and 14 — against Singapore home and away. (PTI)
