Stimac to coach India football team at Asian Games

NEW DELHI: A new coach will take charge of the India team for the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in September while senior national side head coach Igor Stimac will be at the helm during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said.

It must be mentioned that football is an U-23 event at the Asian Games and hence after the quadrennial extravaganza, Stimac will have to focus on the senior team’s preparation in the lead-up to the Asian Cup next year.

For the U-23 Asian Cup qualifying matches, scheduled to be held in Dalian from September 6 to 12, India is clubbed with the Maldives, the UAE and host China. The dates of this tournament clash with the Kings Cup in Thailand – September 7 to 10 – in which the senior team under Stimac will compete in.

“Stimac will not be available for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers. So, we are appointing a new U-23 team coach who will also assist Stimac during the Asian Games. He will be an Indian,” the AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran told PTI.

After the Kings Cup, Stimac will travel to Hangzhou for the September 23-October 8 Asian Games, where the senior team will return after missing out in 2018. Since 2002, football at the Asian Games has been an U-23 affair, with three players above that age also permitted in a team. Many players in the current India senior team are below 23 and Stimac can field them at the Asian Games.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had refused to clear the national team for the 2018 Asian Games on the ground that it was not ranked among the top-eight in the continent. But this time, India will take part in Asian Games football.