Bhaichung Bhutia has resigned from the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), saying that the committee was not consulted before appointing Manolo Marquez as the coach of the senior men’s team. The Spaniard takes charge of the side while remaining the coach of FC Goa, with whom he is contracted till the end of the 2024-25 season.
“I have nothing against Manolo or anybody else. My sole point is, why have this technical committee, when you bypass it?” Bhutia told RevSportz from Delhi. He was in the national capital on Saturday and attended the AIFF’s executive committee meeting, where Manolo’s name was proposed by the federation president Kalyan Chaubey. The committee accepted his proposal.
The process is, the technical committee finalises a name and forwards it to the executive committee, which is the AIFF’s supreme decision-making body. The executive committee then decides whether to approve the technical committee’s decision or not.
Bhutia, the former India captain and a former head of the technical committee, was aggrieved that this process was not followed. “What’s the point in having the technical committee when it’s not consulted before appointing the national coach. I raised this point at the meeting and said that I am resigning from the technical committee,” said Bhutia, who had lost to Chaubey in the election for the post of the AIFF president in September 2022.
“IM Vijayan is the head of the technical committee. He was present neither physically nor virtually in today’s meeting. A few weeks ago, he had spoken about appointing an Indian as the coach. He mentioned the names of Khalid Jamil, Mahesh Gawli, Rennedy Singh. None of that was ever discussed by the technical committee, which never had a meeting in this regard. That is my objection. I have nothing to say against Manolo,” said Bhutia.
The former striker added that he was the technical committee head when Stephen Constantine was appointed the coach of the senior men’s team. “The process I mention was followed back then. Then why not now? The technical committee was not consulted when Igro Stimac’s contract was renewed either. Why should I remain a part of this committee then?” Bhutia said.