New Delhi [India], July 25 : All India Football Federation (AIFF) President, Kalyan Chaubey, has said that there will be a meeting held in the next few days, which will decide the new head coach of the Indian football team out of the three shortlisted candidates.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) Technical Committee shortlisted three candidates for Indian men's football team head coach after meeting virtually.
On Wednesday, 170 applications were reviewed, out of which three candidates emerged: Khalid Jamil, Stephen Constantine and Stefan Tarkovic.
The resumes of these three candidates will undergo review before a final decision is made for a replacement for Manolo Marquez, who was let go as head coach earlier this month by the federation.
"For the Indian national head coach...the technical committee sent its chairperson, I.M. Vijayan who held the meeting with the members yesterday. Out of the 170 applicants who came from the country and abroad, three were shortlisted. After that, according to the rules of our constitution, we have to call an EC," Kalyan Chaubey told ANI
"There will probably be a notice for an emergency EC. In the next seven or eight days, this meeting will take place. And in the meeting, it will be decided which of the three is appointed as the head coach of the country. This is how the coaches of the national team will be selected," he added.
Stephen had previously served as Indiai's head coach for two tenures, between 2002 to 2005 and then 2015 to 2019. He guided Team India to a silver medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games during his first stint, while his second stint saw the team secure the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship title in 2016 and the Intercontinental Cup in 2018. Under his tenure, India also qualified for the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.
Constantine coached Kolkata giants East Bengal during the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL) season. His recent assignment was being the head coach of Pakistani national team.
Khalid is another prominent face in Indian football, having coaching experience with domestic clubs like Aizawl FC, East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, NorthEast United FC and Jamshedpur FC. He is currently with Jamshedpur FC and led Aizawl FC to the 2016-17 I-League title, a history-making win as they were the first Northeast Indian club to lift the trophy.
Khalid also helped NorthEast United FC reach playoffs for the second-time ever during 2020-21 ISL season. He also took East Bengal FC and Jamshedpur FC to a runners-up finish in the Super Cup in 2018 and 2025, respectively.
Stefan is currently the head coach of Kyrgyzstan and had previously served as a coach for Slovakian U18 and senior team in the past.