Indian Football Coach Igor Stimac Picked Team Based On Astrologer's Advice - Report

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Indian football head coach Igor Stimac reportedy picked the senior squad for the crucial AFC Asian Cup qualifier third round match against Afghanistan in June 2022 based on the advice of an astrologer named Bhupesh Sharma from Delhi-NCR.

According to a report from the Indian Express, the astrologer was introduced to Stimac by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The report claims that the former secretary-general of AIFF, Kushal Das has admitted that he introduced the two to each other in May 2022.

The report further adds that the head coach sent the names of the probable 11 for the Afganistan clash two days ahead of the match to the astrologer, who then replied with his opinion based on stars of the players.

"Stimac had sent a list with the names of a probable 11 for the game, which was a must-win to remain in contention for the championship. The match was to take place on June 11, and the list was shared on June 9," the Indian Express reported.

"The astrologer replied against each player's name with remarks like "Good", "can do very well. Needs to avoid overconfidence", " a below average day", "a very good day for him but might get over aggressive" and "not recommended for the day."

Interestingly, according to Sharma, two big players whose stars were not favourable, did not make it to the playing XI in the match against Afghanistan, whom India beat 2-1 on June 11, 2022.

In fact, the report further stated that Stimac shared close to 100 messages with the astrologer in May-June 2022, when the Indian football team played four matches in which they lost one and won three.

The Blue Tigers lost a friendly against Jordan, but followed that with three wins against Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup 2024 qualifiers.

The report further said that Stimac shared injury updates and substitution strategies before every match, which not only puts a question mark over the integrity of the team's selection process, but also raises issues of vital information being shared with an "outsider" that runs the risk of being misused.

Stimac, who was recently served a show-cause notice by the AIFF for two other reasons, revealed that the astrologer was recommended to him and he was surprised by the contract Sharma was on.

"Bhupesh was recommended to me and I was convinced (by others) that I have to check upon his possible effects in sports...No more than that. I requested another foreign assistant coach which was never even considered and was shocked to find out the size of Bhupesh's contract." Stimac said.

The AIFF secretary-general at that time, Das revealed the amount paid to the astrologer, but admitted that he was not aware of the conversation between Stimac and the astrologer.

"Since we used his professional services for two months, we paid him around Rs 12-15 lakh. That didn't seem a huge amount since India qualified for the Asian Cup. In my 12 years with AIFF, I have never discussed team selections with the coach or anyone else," Das said.