Xtra Time Web Desk: The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) has offered a fresh contract to senior men’s football team head coach Igor Stimac till the end of Asian Cup 2022 campaign. The decision was taken here during the second Executive Committee (EC) meeting of the AIFF’s new dispensation headed by Kalyan Chaubey and secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran.
According to AIFF secretary Shaji Prabhakaran, “The performance target is to be top-eight in the competition. If that target is achieved, then automatically the contract will be extended to another competition whichever is the priority for AIFF.”
It is understood that AIFF doesn’t want to continue with Stimac beyond Asia Cup or else such a target wouldn’t have been given, knowing the performance graph of the national team in the continental event over the years.
The benchmark for the Croatian former World Cupper may seem to be a bit high but Prabhakaran said it was “the technical committee’s decision and is endorsed by the executive committee. ” Sunil Chhetri-led India qualified for the fifth time overall, by finishing as group D winners in the third round. This marked their first ever successive Asian Cup qualification earlier this year.
As a matter of fact, barring 1964 when it was a four-team competition, the Blue Tigers, who are ranked 104th in the world and 19th in Asia, never progressed beyond the group stage at the Asian Cup. Stimac-coached India will embark on a Vietnam tour on Tuesday for two friendly games against Singapore and the hosts on September 24 and 27 respectively.