Vijayan refutes Bhaichung’s ‘bypassed’ claim in hiring Blue Tigers’ coach

New Delhi: AIFF Technical Committee Chairman I.M. Vijayan on Thursday refuted Bhaichung Bhutia’s allegation that the panel was ‘bypassed’ in appointing the new national men's team head coach, Manolo Marquez.

In July, the AIFF Executive Committee appointed Spaniard Marquez, currently in charge of ISL side FC Goa, as the new head coach, replacing Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac, who was dismissed in June after India failed to qualify for the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Former international Bhaichung, who is a co-opted member of the Executive Committee, even said that he intended to resign from the AIFF Technical Committee because it was bypassed while naming the new head coach.

However, Vijayan, who played a lot of football with and against Bhaichung during their heyday, told IANS that as the Chairman of the Technical Committee, he was very much aware of the appointment of the new head coach.

“We were aware of this fact. The matter was discussed… All the technical committee members were aware of it. Bhaichung did not attend the meeting and we cannot do anything about it. We had told him…," Vijayan said.

Bhaichung, who attended the July 20 Executive Committee meeting, said a day later that he had been the Chairman of the AIFF Technical Committee from 2013 to 2017 and was involved in the appointment of coaches, including Stephen Constantine.

According to the former India captain, it is the job of the technical committee to shortlist the candidates who have applied and recommend the suitable person for the position.

"But this time, there was not even a single technical committee meeting to appoint a successor to Stimac, or discuss how many candidates have applied, etc.," he had said.

Repeated attempts by IANS to contact Bhaichung over phone and text proved unsuccessful.