Kalyan Chaubey clears the air around speculations of non-communication between coach Igor Stimac and the AIFF President

Since the disappointment of the Asian Cup 2024, there have been a lot of rumors of volatility brewing among the stakeholders of Indian football. Reports emerged earlier in the year of discord between Kalyan Chaubey, the president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), and senior men's team head coach Igor Stimac.

They were apparently not even in talking terms, a situation that could further muddle the workings of the governing body. But the duo, who shared the dias during Trailblazers 2.0, a sports conclave organized by RevSportz, cleared the air around the speculations on Thursday.

"I don't know why and how this speculation came around. But the head coach is very much in communication with the AIFF president," Kalyan Chaubey averred.

"The speculation was that the president hadn't met the coach but we have a technical committee chaired by I.M Vijayan. The seven-member committee has together played nearly 300 international matches. So any decision that goes through the hierarchy comes to the sub-committee."

The president ensured there wasn't a situation of non-communication between the two, and they were rather just following the communication hierarchy that is in place. Chaubey added:

"So to clarify, when this aforementioned situation occurred, the head coach had come to the Football House and had a meeting with the technical committee. The report then came to the president and he will be tabling that report to the Executive Council on March 10 at Itanagar."

While concluding his statement on the situation at hand, Kalyan Chaubey stressed the importance of respecting the technical committee and the need to follow the protocol, irrespective of the personnel.

"Even if Igor and I are sitting here together, it doesn't mean we will discuss the next FIFA match, contract matters, or performances in the Asian Cup. That's not the protocol. We are running a federation and it has a policy. Otherwise, what's the point of keeping a sub-committee."

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“The speculations come as a surprise,” - Igor Stimac on the rumors of him and Kalyan Chaubey not seeing eye-to-eye

Quite like the AIFF President, head coach Igor Stimac too expressed his surprise at the ongoing speculations. The Croatian gaffer stressed that he was in constant touch with the technical committee of the federation and stressed the need to maintain the present mode of operation.

"The rumors come as a surprise. Seven months ago, I had a meeting with the (AIFF) president and vice president about what we were going to do in the next two and a half years. And our plan is clear. I'm in daily contact with the main operative of the Football House. We are not going to change our mode of operation because of these speculations," Stimac said.

Without shying away from addressing the disappointment in the Asian Cup, Stimac explained that he had predicted a similar outcome considering the conditions the Indian national team was operating in.

"In July last year, after winning the SAFF Championship, I had a meeting and I explained to the president what's going to happen in the next six months. Exactly that happened because we were well aware that we weren't in a position to change things at that moment. We knew we would go through a suffering time like we did when I started as the national team head coach four and a half years back. But now it's a second phase of our work and the best wins come through our defeats."

While both Chaubey and Stimac taking it upon themselves to dilute the brewing tension will bring a massive sigh of relief from fans, the ultimate focus will be on the synergy the duo display in the build-up to what the head coach defines as the 'second phase'.