“Kalyan, you are lying, not me. As soon as he leaves, there will be an opportunity for Indian football. Indian football needs someone powerful and influential. Kalyan is powerful only when he walks with armed guards in Kolkata. Apart from that, no one knows him,” Stimac said in a press conference.
This is the latest development in the ongoing war of words between the AIFF and Stimac after he was sacked following India's exit in the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. It will be interesting to see how AIFF and its President Kalyan Choubey react to these latest allegations.
“There was never any relationship between me and Kalyan, it was clear. I informed the General Secretary. The President is not involved in these things. When Kalyan came and was elected president, our first meeting at the Hyatt lasted three minutes, in which he looked at his watch five times,” Stimac said.
Shaji Prabhakaran was recently criticized because he was in power when Stimac renewed his contract until 2026. Stimac was questioned over the sacking of Shaji and asked whether the move was good for Indian football. “It cannot be good to sack Shaji, if you start a process and start working together and even before a year has passed you have a fight. This is wrong and reflects negatively,” the 56-year-old said.
All football decisions including the appointment of coaches and contracts are controlled by the AIFF's Technical Committee headed by president and football legend I.M. Vijayan does. The Croatian took time to express his feelings towards the former player. He concluded, "IM Vijayan is a great footballer and a legend of Indian football, but is not the right person to be the chairman of the technical committee."
This is the latest development in the ongoing war of words between the AIFF and Stimac after he was sacked following India's exit in the second round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers. It will be interesting to see how AIFF and its President Kalyan Choubey react to these latest allegations.
“There was never any relationship between me and Kalyan, it was clear. I informed the General Secretary. The President is not involved in these things. When Kalyan came and was elected president, our first meeting at the Hyatt lasted three minutes, in which he looked at his watch five times,” Stimac said.
Shaji Prabhakaran was recently criticized because he was in power when Stimac renewed his contract until 2026. Stimac was questioned over the sacking of Shaji and asked whether the move was good for Indian football. “It cannot be good to sack Shaji, if you start a process and start working together and even before a year has passed you have a fight. This is wrong and reflects negatively,” the 56-year-old said.
All football decisions including the appointment of coaches and contracts are controlled by the AIFF's Technical Committee headed by president and football legend I.M. Vijayan does. The Croatian took time to express his feelings towards the former player. He concluded, "IM Vijayan is a great footballer and a legend of Indian football, but is not the right person to be the chairman of the technical committee."