Noting the disappointing outcome of the senior men’s national team’s FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign, the senior members of the AIFF unanimously agreed that a new head coach would be best placed to take the team forward. The senior officials of the All India Football Federation held a virtual meeting on Sunday at which they arrived at this decision.
The meeting was chaired by AIFF Vice President NA Haris and the others in attendance were Menla Ethenpa (Member, Executive Committee and Chairperson, Finance Committee), Anilkumar Prabhakaran (Member, Executive Committee and Chairperson, Competitions Committee), IM Vijayan, (Chairman of the AIFF Technical Committee), Climax Lawrence (Member of the AIFF Technical Committee) and M. Satyanarayan (Acting Secretary General).
According to the AIFF press release, the members unanimously decided that a new head coach would be best suited to lead the team following the disappointing outcome of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign.
Satyanarayan was instructed to notify Igor Stimac of the termination of his engagement. “The AIFF Secretariat has issued a notice of termination to Stimac, who is now relieved of his duties with immediate effect. The AIFF thanked Mr. Stimac for his service and wished him well in his future endeavors,” read the AIFF statement.
Earlier today, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey commented that the national team had enough of Stimac’s excuses after one poor show after another while India are yet to win a game this year.
“The coach has been making a lot of excuses about not getting the camp and all to hide his own mistakes. A mature person can easily see these excuses and their patterns-some before the match and some after,” said Chaubey.
“When matches are conducted in the FIFA window, they are as per international rules, and the same applies for India to follow. It’s the same window we have to work with. You can’t get wins on both sides of the coin.”
Earlier, Igor Stimac had indicated his unwillingness to resign without receiving fair compensation for his current contract. Despite his previous statements in March about stepping down if he failed to lead the team to the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers, Stimac remained firm on discussing his future with AIFF officials post the recent defeat to Qatar.
Stimac’s contract, which ran until June 2026, includes a hefty salary of Rs 25 lakh per month and a severance pay clause of approximately Rs 3 crore. This financial commitment posed a challenge for the AIFF in negotiating a mutual parting of ways.
Following the loss to Qatar, Stimac expressed his intention to stay on as head coach, citing the AIFF’s failure to provide adequate support and fulfill promises.
However, the AIFF’s technical committee and other senior officials believed that a change in leadership was necessary. Despite ruling out the appointment of a full-time Indian coach, assistant coach Mahesh Gawli was considered a temporary replacement if Stimac departed close to upcoming tournaments such as the tri-nation in September and the Merdeka in October.
The AIFF press release did not specify the amount of compensation Stimac would receive following the termination of his contract. No announcement was made either on who will be the caretaker coach until the new coach is appointed.