By recommending Anthony Andrews as head coach of the senior girls’s group, the IM Vijayan-led technical committee of the All India Soccer Federation (AIFF) ignored the gamers’ written request to retain Thomas Dennerby.
Andrews is 27 and has by no means coached a senior nationwide facet. Dennerby is 63 and got here to India in 2019 after guiding Nigeria within the 2019 World Cup. He was in control of the Sweden girls’s group, which completed third within the 2011 World Cup, from 2005 to 2012.
“On behalf of your entire senior Indian Girls’s Nationwide Staff (sic) we humbly request you to kindly proceed this yr with the immensely skilled Head Coach (sic), Thomas Dennerby for the necessary tournaments this yr just like the 2nd spherical of the Olympic Qualifiers (sic) and Asian Video games in 2023, so there's continuity and regular progress of the group,” mentioned the gamers’ e-mail to AIFF prime brass. HT has a replica.
That India have been with out a head coach for the reason that first spherical of the Olympic qualifiers in April, Dennerby’s final task, was reported by HT on Thursday.
The e-mail referred to the “heartbreak” of the 2022 AFC Girls’s Asian Cup the place India needed to withdraw on account of an outbreak of Covid-19 and mentioned that “these tournaments are an opportunity for us to show… capabilities and potential.” Since Dennerby “is aware of every participant and our capabilities,” the gamers requested AIFF to let him proceed.
“A brand new coach coming in at this stage will take time to settle in, to know the group, gamers and the competitors degree at these massive tournaments which may hamper our probabilities of success.”
The Asian Video games in Hangzhou are from September 23-October 8 and the Olympic qualifiers from October 26-November 1 in Tashkent.
“I really feel the gamers’ opinion ought to have been taken under consideration as India did properly with Dennerby in cost,” mentioned Bhaichung Bhutia, a former head of the technical committee.
India beat Kyrgyzstan 5-0 and 4-0 within the first spherical of qualifiers and drew 0-0 with Iran within the Asian Cup, which was voided due to the pull-out. Appointed as India under-17 head coach for the 2020 World Cup, Dennerby took cost of the senior group in 2021 forward of the Asian Cup.
Bhutia additionally mentioned that on the final govt committee assembly, Andrews’ apparent battle of curiosity as head coach of Gokulam Kerala FC was identified. As India’s most-capped former worldwide, Bhutia is on the manager committee. “The chief committee requested the technical committee to have a look at different names. Did they try this?” requested one other member. The member didn't need to be named given the delicate nature of the problem. Vijayan didn't return calls from this newspaper.
Andrews helmed Gokulam Kerala FC to 2 successive Indian Girls’s League titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He was assistant to Priya PV, now India under-17 girls’s head coach, within the 2021 AFC Girls’s Membership Championship.
Ishfaq U-16 coach
The technical committee additionally really useful Ishfaq Ahmed, the previous Kerala Blasters’ assistant-coach, as India males’s under-16 head coach. Ahmed will substitute Bibiano Fernandes who left after seven years with the under-17 group earlier this month.
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