agencies
KOLKATA, June 15: Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac has lashed out at the messy state of affairs grappling the national federation (AIFF), a day after his side qualified for AFC Asian Cup for the second consecutive time.
The AIFF is currently run by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) after the Praful Patel-led federation was found to have violated the National Sports Code.
While an immediate suspension by FIFA because of third-party intervention is out of cards, Stimac questioned the timing of the issue, which has cast a shadow on India's qualification for a prestigious tournament like the AFC Asian Cup.
"For such an important tournament, was this the time to do this? Was anybody thinking how that could affect the dressing room and the players?" Stimac asked, referring to AIFF's current state of affairs.
"I am not getting into who is right and who is wrong. It is not my job. I am just talking about timing. At such an important time, such a thing is happening, is anyone normal?"
"Nothing would have happened if they were waiting for three more weeks after having waited so many years," he said.
The 54-year-old, whose contract has been extended till September, also minced no words when asked about his future.
"We had no time to talk about contracts. We don't even have a board. Nobody thought about how that drama could affect the players," the Croatian said.
India's qualification was sealed ahead of their final league match against Hong Kong on Tuesday when Palestine registered a 4-0 win against Philippines in a Group B game in Mongolia.
Stimac's side celebrated its qualification with an emphatic 4-0 win over Hong Kong later in the day as it finished with three wins to top group D -- their best ever campaign.
Stimac further pointed out that he came to India for a "less salary" when he had multiple offers in hand.
"The players are trying to save my job. I came here for less salary than what was my market price. I had offers from others for better-paid jobs than I saw in India. The coach was never the problem in this country, you should talk about other problems," he said.
"We look into the future where we want to be. We want to be in every Asian Cup and we also want to compete strongly for the World Cup Qualifiers, which was clearly said at the beginning of my term," Stimac said.
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