India Football Federation: The battle between the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) and Igor Stimac has taken a bitter turn. The former Indian national football team head coach on Friday held a press conference to reveal ‘the flow of events that put us here.’A lot of speculation and criticism has been directed in the way of both parties regarding Stimac’s contract as there was no termination clause in the contract which meant the 56-year-old would be owed the entire salary of his contract.
On being questioned on the topic, Stimac revealed that he had in fact offered ‘mutual termination’ to the footballing body and blamed their impatience on the pressure of social media.
“I had offered mutual termination at the expense of a month’s salary! The people in AIFF don’t know how to run a football house. I informed Satyanaryan that I’ve got two offers and I’m deciding my future. By the end of the month, I’ll make a decision which will allow us to part ways without costing much. But I also told him if he wants to terminate the contract early, then he can but I will need someone from the AIFF who’ll take responsibility with me,” said Stimac in a virtual press conference on Friday.
“Only half a day after telling me not to feel pressured by social media, I received a termination letter in the mail, which they can’t do on their own,” added the Croatian.
Although Igor did not reveal the amount that is now owed to him, he did acknowledge the fact that it is a ‘huge amount.’ It is reported that the sum is close to three crores which is a massive amount of money for the board to pay.
“AIFF is now panicking as they’ll have to pay up me in full, which is a HUGE amount for them. I think they’re now relying on their marketing partners to pay, anyways now I don’t care about that,” concluded Stimac.
