19 august 2024 : Igor Stimac, the former India head coach, has moved FIFA seeking compensation till June 2026 from All India Football Federation (AIFF) for breach of contract.
The relevant documents were filed with FIFA’s legal portal on Sunday. This is the first time a former India football team head coach has challenged his dismissal at FIFA and sought compensation.
It’s all in the hands of my lawyer,” said Stimac on Monday. “The case is very simple so I am confident about the final verdict.”
Speaking to HT from Split in Croatia, Davor Radic, attorney at law, who is representing Stimac, said: “Our position is very simple. My client’s contract was terminated from the position of the head coach without just cause. The compensation offered to the head coach by the national association is not acceptable and so we have approached the FIFA Football Tribunal.”
Dealing with contract disputes is part of FIFA Football Tribunal’s remit. The tribunal has three chambers: the Dispute Resolution Chamber, the Players’ Status Chamber (PSC) and the Agents Chamber.
It is to PSC that Stimac’s case is likely to be referred to. That is because among PSC’s purpose listed on FIFA’s website is “employment-related disputes between association and a coach of international dimension.” Such disputes may concern the lawfulness of a contractual termination between a member association and a coach, FIFA has stated in its “Guide to submitting claims before the Football Tribunal.”
As per FIFA, the tribunal’s procedures are free of charge where one of the parties is a player, coach, football agent or match agent. Only the tribunal is the competent authority to “render a decision based on the circumstances of the claim,” according to the Guide document on FIFA’s website. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) can hear an appeal on the tribunal’s decision.
On contract till June 2026, Stimac was sacked last June. AIFF offered him three months’ salary as compensation, which was rejected by the former Croatia international who has also been head coach of their national team. Present in the contract he had signed in 2019, the three-month compensation clause was removed in the extensions for Stimac in 2022 and 2023. Following his sacking, Stimac had he would seek redress from FIFA if he was not paid as per contract.
According to the latest contract, Stimac, 56, was to be paid $30,000 per month till January 2025 and $40,000 thereafter till June 2026. Should AIFF have to pay, the entire amount could be nearly ₹7.5 crore. There is also the possibility of interest being added in case of a delay in payments.
AIFF will represent its version of events to FIFA. Satyanarayan Muthyalu, the acting secretary-general till P Anilkumar took charge on Monday, said the federation had not heard from FIFA or Stimac on this.
Stimac was appointed in May 2019 replacing Stephen Constantine. While the high point of his five-year tenure would be the 0-0 away draw to Asian champions Qatar, Stimac’s India also won three tournaments at home in 2023, including the SAFF Championship where Kuwait and Lebanon had been invited.
Under him, India qualified for the 2024 Asian Cup finals, reached a high of 99 in the FIFA rankings and beat Kuwait in the World Cup qualifiers, the away win being the first in the competition in over 20 years.
India’s poor show in the Asian Cup led to a slide in rankings. It was followed by a draw and defeat to Afghanistan, then ranked 41 places below at 158, in the World Cup qualifiers. A draw against Kuwait in former captain Sunil Chhetri’s last international and defeat to Qatar meant a first-time qualification to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers was not to be and Stimac was removed. Last month, FC Goa coach Manolo Marquez was given charge of the national team.
It was also learnt that Stimac’s Croatian assistants in the coaching staff, Luka Radman, the strength and conditioning coach, and Frano Srdarev, the goalkeepers’ coach, who had contracts till 2025, could agree to accept six months’ salary from AIFF as compensation.
