Constantine takes over as new coach

Englishman Stephen Constantine has been named as the new coach of the Indian football team for the Pusan Asian Games in September. Constanti...

Englishman Stephen Constantine has been named as the new coach of the Indian football team for the Pusan Asian Games in September. Constantine replaces Sukhwinder Singh under whom India put up a creditable show in the pre-World Cup 2002 qualifiers last year.

“We are bringing him for the Asian Games. He will arrive here on June 15 and will take care of the team,” All India Football Federation president Priyaranjan Dasmunshi said here today.

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Constantine, now a FIFA instructor and coach, had earlier worked with the Nepal national team, and left an indelible impression.

“India will also play in a six-nation tournament in Vietnam to prepare for the Games,” Dasmunshi added.

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“We will ask Sukhwinder, the current national coach, whether he can take over as the technical director of the team,” the AIFF president said.

While underlining that AIFF has not entered into any formal agreement with Constantine, Dasmunshi said further modalities will be worked only after the arrival of Constantine.

The AIFF executive committee which met here today also decided to reduce the number of foreign players in the National Football League and other domestic tournaments to provide more opportunities for upcoming talent in the country.

Clubs playing in NFL can now register four foreign players of whom three can play at a time from the existing rule which permits five and four players respectively. In other domestic tournaments, teams can play only two foreigners from a maximum of three who can register from the existing restriction of three and four respectively.

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After reviewing the sixth NFL, AIFF has decided to streamline the existing semi-professional set up. For this, AIFF has increased the number of teams in the second division to 12 from the present 10 to make the number on par with the Premier League.

The second division will now comprise two teams relegated from the Premier League who will join 10 others. But the AIFF President said unlike in the first division the matches will not be on a home and away basis.