Approach of coach and national director unprofessional, says displeased FSDL official

After India drew 1-1 with Bangladesh in a dull match, the heat has also increased on Igor Stimac who hasn’t really stood up to the expectations so far. Furthermore, he decided to reveal that he wasn’t happy with the little available time for his players before the World Cup qualifiers against Afghanistan and Oman in November.

The Indian Super League running Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL) hasn’t taken it well and has hit out at Stimac and team director Abhishek Yadav stating that both of them had a clear idea of the time frame available to them from a long time. “Media isn’t the platform to have such conversations. He could have reached out to us. But this approach of the coach and the national director is unprofessional,” the FSDL official said, reported IANS.

“Not just before the Bangladesh match, but even after the match, Stimac told selective media that he wants the fourth round of the ISL to be postponed so that he can have the players. But what he isn’t mentioning is that in the month of August there was a meeting between FSDL, Abhishek and Stimac. And it was discussed and agreed upon that since the ISL schedule is out and a lot of planning goes into the whole process of organising games like broadcasting, booking of stadiums and lodging of players, it is not possible to give a longer break before the November games and FIFA rules will be followed.

“Even then, we reworked the schedule in such a way that our fourth round ends on November 10 and the fifth round starts on November 23. After all, nothing is more important for us than the national team. Also, as decided in the August meeting, we had pushed the clubs to release the players well in advance before the Bangladesh game. This was done to give the Indian team management a longer run with the footballers in October to strategise for the qualifiers. The clubs also understood and released the players by October 3. And after all that, we get to hear such stuff from the coach at a pre-match presser,” the official further added.

This has reflected very poorly on the coach, as per the FSDL official, who stated that the coach has been trying to hide behind the poor Bangladesh result and blaming it on the long-term and detailed planning of ISL.

"The planning was done as per the understanding of the two parties. It is unfortunate that the coach decided to make such a statement in a pre-match press conference wherein the focus should have been on the game at hand. Then again, just because the result against Bangladesh wasn’t as per expectation, he again told select media that he was worried. You can’t change the stand after having a meeting and agreeing to the earlier plan. We take strong objection to this statement by the national coach as he was given a clear picture and all plans were made keeping him in the loop,” the official pointed.

After India succumbed to their second draw of their World Cup campaign, the manager had a lot to answer and he stated that India’s cramped schedule in November could be a problem for the national side. 

“I am very worried about the November camp. We are going to try everything possible to find a way with ISL people as it does not look promising for us right now.”