India's football head coach position is vacant after the exit of Igor Štimac and the All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey has said that the board is looking to rope in someone who could "develop Indian football" and produce fruitful outcomes.
"I believe the result matters a lot. We will be looking for someone who can develop Indian football. And whoever gets appointed as chief coach, we want him to add a lot of potential to the national team's performance," Chaubey told PTI in an interview.
Chaubey claimed that the advertised position of India's head coach witnessed an overwhelming response, including Indian and overseas applicants.
"We have received a total of 291 applications and we have shortlisted 17 names from them. There are Indian and foreign names. We will have a detailed discussion about them in the Executive Committee meeting," he mentioned.
"We are in touch with the technical committee. As Vijayan (IM) is overseas now, he will be consulted through a virtual meeting," he said.
India have several significant assignments to deal with in the days to come, including a tri-nation tournament involving Vietnam and Lebanon. The AIFF president is hopeful that the incoming coach would be able to get India the desired result in such tournaments and take the team in the right direction.
"We are looking to utilise all the FIFA windows which we have in the month of September, October, November and March next year. No matter whether we play against a lower-ranked team or higher-ranked team, the aim is to win. It will also create more match time for players. Yes, these matches will also give more international exposure to the players," Chaubey added.
The retirement of Sunil Chhetri has left a big void in Indian football and Chaubey believes that Lallianzuala Chhangte, who was adjudged the Best Men's Player during the AIFF awards on Friday can fill that void.
"Who is after Sunil Chhetri? This question comes to everybody’s mind. I think Chhangte, who has won the Player of the Year award this year, has a lot of potential. He can definitely make a long career. Such awards will inspire a player to put in an even bigger effort,” he concluded.
