The All India Football Federation (AIFF), on Friday, appointed Khalid Jamil as the head coach of the men’s senior national team.
Khalid, along with English coach Stephen Constantine (62) and Stefan Tarkovic (52) of Slovakia, was shortlisted for the top post to replace Manolo Marquez.
The executive committee of the federation, in a virtual meeting, thought Khalid would be the best person for the job. The duration of the contract, however, is yet to be finalised. Khalid wants a three-year contract, and the AIFF brass is not averse to that. Sources said his salary would be around ₹10 lakh per month whereas Constantine and Tarkovic were seeking $20,000 per month.
“A big moment for me,” Khalid told The Telegraph.
The technical committee, on July 23, had recommended the three names after going through 163 CVs. The IM Vijayan-headed committee’s first preference was the present Jamshedpur FC coach.
“He (Vijayan) strongly recommended Khalid Jamil, as he has already been conferred with the AIFF’s Men’s Coach of the Year Award on two occasions (2023-24 and 2024-25),” the AIFF said in a release on Friday. Armando Colaco, advisor to AIFF president Kalyani Chaubey, and Shabbir Ali, a member of the technical committee, also pitched for an Indian head coach.
“Mr Colaco and Mr Ali expressed their views that the AIFF should prioritise selecting an Indian coach for the senior men’s national team... They, too, were once Indian coaches with no national team experience. They believe that Indian coaches need to be given a fair chance to prove themselves,” the AIFF added. “Thereafter, the majority of the house accepted the recommendations of the TC (technical committee).”
Khalid will be the first Indian coach for the senior team after Savio Medeira, who took over the reins from Bob Houghton in 2011. His first assignment will be the Central Asian Football Association (Cafa) Nations Cup, to be held in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from August 29.
He will have the tough task of reversing India’s poor performances in the recent past. After losing 0-1 to lower-ranked Hong Kong in an away match of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10, India are in danger of missing out on qualifying for the continental showpiece in 2027.
After the Cafa Nations Cup, India will play their AFC Asian Cup qualifying round games on October 9 and 14 against Singapore (home and away) and then travel to Bangladesh for the return leg in November.
Khalid has long been a trailblazer in Indian football. The biggest achievement of his more than a decade-long managerial career was the 2016-17 I-League title with Aizawl FC, who upstaged big clubs like Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Bengaluru FC. The success was likened to Leicester City’s Premier League triumph in 2016.
The unassuming Mumbaikar also guided two relatively understated sides to the ISL play-offs — NorthEast United in 2020-21 and Jamshedpur FC in 2024-25.
"India have four crucial matches in the AFC Cup Qualifiers and we wanted someone who knows the present crop of Indian footballers well. Stephen does not have any idea about them, and Tarkovic would have taken time to get an idea about Indian football itself. So Khalid was the best choice. Also, this is the best time to bring in an Indian coach,” an AIFF official said.
“He may not have the experience of managing a national team, unlike the two foreigners, but Khalid is the best Indian coach we have. We are confident he will be able to deliver,” he added.
India are now ranked 133, which proves the foreign coaches, too, had not delivered.
One of the best phases of Indian football came in 2023. The national team, under Igor Stimac, won three consecutive tournaments in four months and recorded a rare away win at Kuwait in a World Cup Qualifier in November. But since then, it’s been a downward journey.
Khalid had been very successful at the club level. How he handles the pressure of the national team remains to be seen. “I love the pressure,” he said.
He does and Indian football fans will hope he succeeds.
