"Who'll be his successor?" - Indian football fans react to Igor Stimac's dismissal
The All India Football Federation today (June 17) announced the departure of Indian national football team head coach Igor Stimac. The Croatian, who had been in charge of the national team since 2019, leaves after a string of poor results on the international stage.
However, as he leaves, his tenure wasn't completely a negative one. Rather, he is the first head coach of the Indian team to win three major trophies in a single season - the Tri-Nation Cup, Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championship in 2023.
After the federation announced his departure, a user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"Thank you, AIFF. Now please look for a good foreign coach, especially Spanish, look for Albert Roca. Also, if we have a budget, hire a special set piece coach as well."
Another user, an Indian football team loyal, commented:
"After terrible results at the national level. We all know that It was coming. But Who'll be his successor? Will it be an indian face or a foreigner?"
Another Indian football enthusiast demanded the appointment of an Indian at the hot seat of the national team. He mentioned:
"Finally! Thank you AIFF for once doing the right thing! Now get an able Indian coach like Khalid Jamil as Head coach of NT. Plus immediately organize national camps for our u17 & u20 NT from 1st July to fully prepared for AFC Qualifiers in September. There is no time to lose!"
One X user, however, pointed out the necessity to get the basics right otherwise no coach would be able to help.
"But not even Pep, Sir Alex, Carlo, Klopp could make it us to wc as we can't even play the basic ballgame," the user wrote.
Another Indian football fan shared his thoughts on what kind of a successor the AIFF should consider.
"Look for a coach with proven track record of working with teams of similar rankings, infrastructure and has built them," the post read.
One fan mentioned something very important. The women's team's budget shouldn't be cut down in order to bring a new coach or a coaching staff.
"Please don't cut women's team budget in order to make up for men's team fiasco," the user opined.
What led to Igor Stimac's departure?
Igor Stimac's Indian football team had perhaps a dream of a year in 2023. They won three major trophies and were on a marauding winning run.
However, 2024 was nothing short of a nightmare. The national team failed to register a single victory at the continental showpiece - the AFC Asian Cup. Even during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in March and June, Stimac's side faltered against a lower-ranked Afghanistan and suffered an allegedly controversial defeat to a young Qatari side at Doha.
Tensions starting growing, with fans demanding the sacking of Igor Stimac. A virtual meeting was held on June 16 where the senior officials of the AIFF met. During the same, the members of the meeting agreed to the appointment of a new head coach and instructed acting secretary general M. Satyanarayan to inform Stimac of the meeting's decision to terminate his contract.