NEW DELHI: Former Croatia international and manager Igor Stimac will be appointed as the Indian men’s team coach after the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) technical committee recommended him for the post.
The committee, headed by Shyam Thapa, interviewed the four candidates for the post — Stimac, Albert Roca, Hakan Ericson and Lee Min Sung — on Thursday and zeroed in on Stimac. The Croat was the only candidate who flew to New Delhi to give the interview in person.
AIFF technical director Isac Doru, vice-chairman Henry Menezes, Prasanta Banerjee, Pradip Datta, GP Palguna, and Sundar Raman (representing AIFF’s commercial partners Football Sports Development Ltd), also attended the meeting.
Besides, AIFF general secretary Kushal Das, and national team director Abhishek Yadav were present as ex-officio members.
“The technical committee has chosen Igor Stimac as the Indian football coach. He gave a splendid presentation and his experience speaks volumes. Stimac has an impressive knowledge of Indian football and we found him as the perfect choice,” Thapa told Sportstar.
In his 14-year managerial career, Stimac coached the Croatian national team between 2012 and 2013, and has also worked with clubs like Hajduk Split, Cibalia, NK Zagreb and Zadar, Iranian club Sepahan and Qatari club Al-Shahania.
