The Executive Committee of the All India Football Federation agreed on Monday to extend the contract of men’s national team coach Igor Stimac till the end of the AFC Asian Cup 2023, when the committee met in Kolkata.
Stimac had, in June, led the national team to the finals of the Asian Cup when the team won Group D in the third round of qualifications that were held in Kolkata. The Committee also recommended that should India make it to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, the coach’s contract should be automatically renewed.
This was the first time the executive committee was meeting after former national team goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey had been elected as president of the AIFF.
At the start of the meeting, the members were informed that the 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.
On the matter of the National Awards, the Committee recommended that Arun Ghosh, Shabbir Ali and IM Vijayan be nominated for the Padma Shri, Manoranjan Bhattacharya for the Major Dhyan Chand Award, and Jeje Lalpekhlua for the Arjuna Award.
The Technical Committee’s recommendations to use Indian coaches in all…
