Amid the storm over his alleged correspondence with an astrologer during the Asian Cup qualifiers, India’s football coach Igor Stimac on Tuesday hinted at major revelations ahead and reaffirmed his dream of transforming the country into a footballing powerhouse.
“Target or honest fighter for the betterment of Indian football? The time is coming to put all cards on the table and see how much and who really cares about football in this country,” Stimac posted on X.
“Give it a thought before making your judgment and thanks once again for your support. My dream of making India a football nation is still alive.”
According to media reports, Stimac was in touch with astrologer Bhupesh Sharma to seek his opinion on team selection during the Asian Cup qualifiers in May and June last year.
The Indian Express quoted Stimac as saying the astrologer “was recommended to me and I was convinced that I have to check upon his possible effects in sports”.
The newspaper also quoted the All India Football Federation’s then secretary-general Kushal Das, who confirmed that he introduced Stimac to Sharma.
Das said there were concerns over whether India would qualify for the Asian Cup: “It was not a comfortable situation. For me, the most important thing was that India should qualify.”
The report quoted Das as saying that AIFF paid Sharma Rs12-15 lakh ($20,000-$25,000) for two months’ services. “That didn’t seem like a huge amount since India qualified for the Asian Cup,” said Das.
The Indian team played four matches – a friendly against Jordan and three Asian Cup qualifiers against Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
While India lost the friendly against Jordan 2-0 in May, they won their three Asian Cup qualifiers to finish top of their group and qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.
Stimac and Sharma had exchanged almost 100 messages during the period.
The newspaper report claimed – based on the exchanges – that Stimac would run possible team selections and injury updates past Sharma and incorporate his inputs when finalising the playing squad.
The report also said two established players did not make the starting XI against Afghanistan on June 11 because their stars were not favourable.
In recent developments, AIFF announced that Stimac will not be the coach of the Indian team at this month’s Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. He has been replaced by Clifford Miranda, the coach of the U23 team that is currently competing in the AFC Asian Cup U-23 qualifiers in China.
The Asian Games football tournament is largely an Under-23 tournament with the option of fielding three older players, and Indian Super League (ISL) clubs have refused to release players for national duty.
India will field a largely under-23 team, with Sunil Chhetri as the only senior player.
Indo-Asian News Service
