"Sooner he leaves his position, Indian football stands a chance" - Departing Igor Stimac tears into AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey
Days after being sacked from the position of the Indian men's national team head coach, Igor Stimac made bombshell allegations and lashed out at Kalyan Chaubey, President of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) during a tell-all virtual interaction on Friday. The coach accused Chaubey of prioritizing personal popularity over substantive commitment to his leadership responsibilities.
The departing tactician initiated the scathing attack on the president after being quizzed on whether he would do anything differently from his five-year stint as the head coach of the Blue Tigers.
"I would leave after the SAFF Championship final in July. I shouldn't have trusted these people, it was just empty words, and nothing else. From July 26th, they promised to support the national team and ensure everything is provided. My fault was to trust them, so I don't blame anyone else. These people don't have time to run football, and they don't know how to run football."
"Having a president whose most important thing is how many clicks he has got on his social media, how to get pictures with famous footballers, instead of taking care of his own institution is ridiculous," Stimac alleged.
Since the announcement of Igor Stimac's contract termination, the president, noticeably, had a few interviews with influencers on various social media platforms. During one of these particular interactions, Chaubey hinted at the head coach making ample excuses for his shortcomings. The Croatian tactician decided to respond to those allegations.
"Now, with his public media appearances, he's just trying to please those destructive people on social media, saying the coach is giving excuses. No, the coach is telling the truth. Not like you, dear Kalyan. You're the only one lying, and just thinking about how to be popular. That's sad for Indian football. Sooner he leaves his position, Indian football stands a chance," he asserted.
Igor Stimac also questioned Kalyan Chaubey's influence as a politician and underlined that only "someone powerful and influential" would be capable enough to lead Indian football into a brighter future.
"You say he is a politician, but he doesn't have any political power. No one knows him. If he was not walking with the armed guards, no one would recognize him. When they see him with his guards in Kolkata, then they start asking, 'Who is that?' Indian football needs someone powerful and influential to lead us."
"We never had a relationship" - Igor Stimac recollects his meetings with Kalyan Chaubey
During the aforementioned media conference, the former head coach detailed his interactions with the AIFF president right from the outset. The Croatian was blunt enough to admit that the two nurtured no relationship at all.
"We never had a relationship. And we shouldn't have one, I agree. I had daily communication with the General Secretary and Technical Director. The president is not there to run things, he is there to organize and ensure the financial situation in the Football House is sound."
Recalling their initial meeting after Chaubey was elected the AIFF President, Stimac narrated:
"When Kalyan was elected president, our first meeting was in a hotel in Kolkata. The meeting went on for around three minutes, and even during that, he was looking at his watch at least five times. It was clear to me that he was very occupied."
Their subsequent interaction occurred after the SAFF Championship Final, which Stimac underlined that he had initiated to outline expectations and necessary actions for the near future.
"But after that, an article was published regarding the poor relationship between me and the AIFF. This led Kalyan to insist that I attend a conclave with him in Kolkata earlier this year, which I now see as an attempt to simply polish his image."
What happened after that? Stimac went on:
"After that conclave, we had a meeting, and he asked me what he could do for the national team. I said nothing new. Only all the things that have been waiting to be done for the past six months. At the meeting, where two more officials from the AIFF were present, he said it would be done immediately. He publicly stated after that the team would get a chartered flight to fly to Afghanistan, but of course, nothing happened."
While the mud-slinging between the former head coach and the AIFF President shines a light on the sorry state of Indian football, the non-existent relationship between the two prime stakeholders, which was kept under wraps, makes a mockery of those who invested emotionally in the team through this tumultuous period.