Igor Stimac signs contract extension till AFC Asian Cup 2023

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April 19 2024, 07:30 PM

Odisha

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Bengaluru, October 4: Indian football team's head coach Igor Stimac has signed an extension of his contract till the end of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2023.

The decision to extend the contract of the Croat was recommended by the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) Technical Committee last month, and was subsequently ratified by the Executive Committee in their respective meetings in Kolkata last month.

"I'm extremely happy that the AIFF has placed the trust in the process that we've put in," Stimac told AIFF Media.

"We've had a very good run in the qualifiers, and we want to make sure that we keep building ourselves up till the AFC Asian Cup and give a good account of ourselves in the continental stage."

The 55-year-old has been in charge of the Blue Tigers since 2019 and has guided the them to its second successive AFC Asian Cup qualification earlier this year, when India topped Group D of the third round of qualifiers.

Second AFC campaign

"Now that we've ensured qualification, we must make sure that we keep improving and finding our best combination till the Asian Cup," he added.

"Again, it isn't an easy process, and there'll be plenty of pain on the way, but if we can stick to the proper procedure and not take shortcuts, we can achieve our target of making it to the knockout rounds."

Shaji's pat

AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran wished his best for Stimac. "The new team in AIFF would like to see a forward momentum for the national team and we're determined to rebuild it with a fresh approach by developing a new plan exclusively for senior national team."

Shaji informed that the AIFF will work closely with the head coach, the support staff and the players and the clubs as well in making sure a positive scenario is created for Indian football through the senior national team. "Our best wishes to Igor Stimac and we're confident that he'll guide the Indian national team to a new level with his huge experience and hard work," Shaji added.

China pulls out

China was supposed to host AFC Asian Cup 2023 featuring 24 teams event tentatively scheduled to be held from June 16 to July 16. But the country's efforts to follow a zero-COVID-19 policy, resulted in it being moved out.

After China's pull out, AFC Asian Cup champions and FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar, along with former champions South Korea, and Australia and 2007 co-host Indonesia have expressed their interest to replace it as the host for the 2023 AFC Asia Cup.

Qatar front-runners

With the deadline for the four associations to submit their bid documents ending on August 31, the AFC's executive committee is expected to announce the new host on October 17. Qatar, which is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup next month, has conducted AFC Asian Cup twice -- 1998 and 2011.

The Al Annabi are the defending champions, having defeated Japan 3-1 in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup held amidst the height of political tensions in the UAE.