On July 20, 2024, the Executive Committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), under the direction of President Kalyan Chaubey, gathered in New Delhi’s Football House to discuss crucial issues. The selection of Manolo Marquez as the new head coach for the Indian men’s national team was the most important move, and it is effective immediately. This comes after former coach Igor Stimac was sacked from the position last month.
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Former Indian Football Team captain Bhaichung Bhutia resigns from technical committee as AIFF “bypasses” the panel
Alleging that the panel was “bypassed” when selecting the national men’s team head coach, legendary football player Bhaichung Bhutia on Saturday informed the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that he is quitting from his membership of the technical committee.
Currently overseeing Indian Super League team FC Goa, Spaniard Manolo Marquez was chosen India head coach on Saturday by the AIFF executive committee. He will surpass Croatian Igor Stimac, who was let go on June 17 following India’s third-round World Cup qualifying failure.
Attended Saturday’s meeting here, Bhutia, a co-opted member of the executive committee who is a former player, asserted that the technical committee advises the national team’s head coach per usual policy. Legendary IM Vijayan leads the present technical panel.
Bhutia said a special committee under AIFF vice president NA Haris was dealing with the matter of finding a successor to Stimac, and he was completely against it.
The other members of the AIFF technical committee include Shabir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Victor Amalraj and Santosh Singh, among others.
The AIFF said Vijayan attended the meeting via video conference.
When contacted, AIFF acting Secretary General M Satyanarayan also said Vijayan was consulted in the coach appointment process.
(With PTI inputs)
