Kolkata: Igor Stimac has rejected the All India Football Federation’s offer of three months salary as compensation, insisting he be paid the full amount as per his contract till June 2026 while threatening to file a lawsuit at FIFA’s tribunal.
The Indian men’s national team’s head coach was sacked on Monday for failing guide the team to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. A special AIFF committee formed in April met virtually and decided to relieve the Croat of his duties, offering three months of his salary as compensation ($90,000).
He took charge in May 2019 and his contract was initially extended for two years in October 2022. A year later his tenure was stretched for another two years in which his salary was increased from $24,000 to $30,000, which would further go up to $40,000 in the final year of his contract till June 2026.
Stimac had publicly declared to quit if he failed to lead India to the third round but went back on his word and told the team that he would deal with the AIFF before deciding his future course of action.
News9 Sports understands he had made up his mind not to continue before the Qatar game, that India lost 1-2 away on June 11 and had only informed it to his confidantes in the team.
The AIFF had taken Stimac’s intention of quitting at face value and expected him to leave taking moral responsibility for a yet another doomed campaign that followed a disastrous AFC Asian Cup expedition in January.
Blame game
But since Stimac didn’t quit voluntarily, the AIFF decided to cut short his employment without even getting approval from its executive committee. The federation didn’t name anyone as Stimac’s successor expecting him to play hardball.
“Stimac’s letter has two parts – one in which he has blamed the AIFF for failing to keep promises on muktiple fronts and second in which he has threatened to file a lawsuit if he is not compensated as per his contract,” a person aware of the development told News9 Sports.
Stimac has pointed out several instances in which AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey failed to keep promises and the manner in which he was unilaterally sacked was unporfessional and in violation of FIFA rules and regulations.
The 56-year-old has said that if the AIFF doesn’t compensate him fully within 10 days as per the contract then he will raise the matter at FIFA’s Player Status Chamber.
AIFF officials didn’t immediately react to Stimac’s letter.
The AIFF sacked head coach Igor Stimac on Monday for failing guide the team to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
