Former India head coach Igor Stimac has filed a complaint with FIFA, requesting payment from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) till June 2026 for contract violations.
On Sunday, the pertinent files were uploaded to FIFA’s legal portal. This is the first time the head coach of the former Indian football team has filed a grievance against his FIFA expulsion and requested restitution.
“My lawyer has complete control over it,” Stimac declared on Monday. “I am confident about the final verdict because the case is very simple.”
The legal representative for Stimac, Davor Radic, told HT via HT from Split, Croatia, “Our position is very simple.” The head coach job was terminated without cause, under the terms of my client’s contract. We have filed an appeal with the FIFA Football Tribunal because the national association’s salary offer to the head coach is unacceptable.
One of the responsibilities of the FIFA Football Tribunal is to handle contract disputes. The Players’ Status Chamber (PSC), the Agents Chamber, and the Dispute Resolution Chamber are the three chambers of the tribunal.
Stimac’s case is most likely going to be sent to PSC. This is due to the fact that “employment-related disputes between association and a coach of international dimension” is one of PSC’s stated purposes on the FIFA website. According to FIFA’s “Guide to submitting claims before the Football Tribunal,” these disagreements can center on whether it was legal for a member association and a coach to end their contract.
FIFA states that in cases where one of the parties is a player, coach, football agent, or match agent, the tribunal’s proceedings are free of charge. According to the Guide document on FIFA’s website, only the tribunal has the right to “render a decision based on the circumstances of the claim.” An appeal of the tribunal’s ruling may be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Under contract until June 2026, Stimac was fired in June of last year. The former Croatian international, who has also served as head coach of their national side, turned down the AIFF’s offer of three months’ salary as payment. The three-month compensation clause that had been in the contract he had signed in 2019 was taken out of the renewals for Stimac in 2022 and 2023. After being fired, Stimac threatened to sue FIFA if he wasn’t paid what was agreed upon.
Stimac, 56, was supposed to receive $30,000 per month until January 2025 and $40,000 per month after that until June 2026, under the most recent contract. If AIFF is required to make a payment, the total sum might be close to ₹7.5 crore. In the event that payments are not made on time, interest may also be charged.
FIFA will hear the AIFF’s interpretation of the circumstances. Before P Anilkumar assumed leadership on Monday, Satyanarayan Muthyalu served as interim secretary general. He stated that the federation had not received any word on this from FIFA or Stimac.
In May 2019, Stimac took Stephen Constantine’s position. The 0-0 away stalemate against Asian champions Qatar would be the high point of Stimac’s five-year term, but his India also won three domestic events in 2023, including the SAFF Championship, to which Kuwait and Lebanon were invited.
Under his leadership, India made it to the 2024 Asian Cup finals, peaked at 99 in the FIFA rankings, and defeated Kuwait in the World Cup qualifying round—the team’s first away victory in more than two decades.
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