The All India Football Federation (AIFF) named the FC Goa head coach, Manolo Marquez, to helm the senior men’s National side for the next three years.
The decision was made in the federation’s executive committee meeting which was convened to find out the right candidate who would be managing the National team after the departure of Igor Stimac, whose contract was terminated after the Indian team failed to make it to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Manolo’s name was selected from a panel of 20 shortlisted candidates who had applied for the job of the national coach. The seasoned Spanish coach was preferred for his knowledge of the Indian ecosystem.
Manolo is rated among the best coaches in the ISL as he helped Hyderabad FC win the title in 2022 while playing a big role in developing Indian players, many of whom are now part of the national squad. With the federation forced to economise owing to a financial crunch, the executive committee tasked its president, Kalyan Chaubey, to negotiate the salary with Marquez.
While deciding on the appointment of Marquez for three years, the AIFF also accepted a rather contentious option of allowing the Spaniard to coach FC Goa simultaneously till the end of the season in 2025. “The AIFF, FC Goa, and Mr. Marquez will collaborate closely to ensure there is minimal impact between the two jobs and strive to achieve the best possible results for all involved,” the AIFF president said in a statement.
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“We are delighted to welcome Mr. Marquez to this important role and are also thankful to FC Goa for their generosity in releasing
him for national duty. We look forward to working with Mr. Marquez in the years ahead,” Chaubey said.
Another name coming up for discussion was that of three-time ISL winning coach Antonio Lopez Habas. The veteran Spanish tactician apparently lost out owing to health related issues.
The AIFF executive committee also decided to defer the relegation process in the Indian Super League by another season. According to the roadmap presented by AIFF to the Asian Football Confederation, the relegation process was supposed to start in the ISL by the 2024-25 season.
This AIFF’s decision of bypassing the roadmap is likely to have a contentious fallout as the I-League Clubs Association has demanded the implementation of the relegation process as contained in the announcement made in the roadmap released in 2019 with the consent of the stakeholders and the continental body.
In a letter to the AIFF president and executive committee members earlier this month, I-League Clubs Association president Ranjit Bajaj has threatened legal action if the AIFF does not follow the Indian football roadmap.
The AIFF executive committee also decided to appoint the Kerala Football Association secretary Anilkumar Prabhakaran as the new secretary general of the AIFF. This means that the acting general secretary M. Satyanarayan will be continuing in his previous role as the assistant secretary.
