Bengaluru, February 7: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday (February 7) has decided to extend the contract of national football coach Stephen Constantine as the team met its objectives under him.
The AIFF Technical Committee met under the aegis of Shyam Thapa in Mumbai decided unanimously to offer contract extension to Constantine.
"The members felt that the senior national team met the dual strategic objectives of AIFF by qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 as well as by constantly achieving a top 15 FIFA ranking amongst the Asian countries in the recent past. Accordingly, there was no reason for the AIFF not to offer a contract to Stephen," said a AIFF release.
The Technical Committee has forwarded the decision to AIFF Executive Committee for final approval.
The point of contention was the salary hike Constantine demanded ahead of the contract renewal. The Englishman is drawing a monthly salary of roughly around Rs 12.8 lakh per month, making him the highest paid foreign coach at present in India.
Constantine has been in charge of Indian football team since 2015 but he pay packet has not been revised much during the tenure, the AIFF often citing below par performance of the team in international competitions.
But the last two years have been very good for the Indian team as they notched up some impressive wins and even moved inside 100 in the FIFA rankings.
There were rumours of Constantine considering offers from two other countries but as the AIFF has now decided to offer him a renewed and reworked contract, Constantine will be around the team till the 2019 season.