Legendary footballer Bhaichung Bhutia on Saturday told the All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) executive committee that he is resigning from his membership of the technical committee, alleging that the panel was “bypassed” while appointing the national men’s team head coach. Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who is currently in charge of Indian Super League side FC Goa, was on Saturday named India head coach by the AIFF executive committee. He will succeed Croatian Igor Stimac, who was sacked on June 17 after India failed to qualify for the third round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Bhutia, who is a co-opted member of the executive committee as a former player and attended Saturday’s meeting here, claimed that under normal practice, the technical committee recommends the head coach of the national team. The current technical panel is headed by legendary IM Vijayan.

“I have been chairman of AIFF technical committee in the past (2013 to 2017) and involved in coach appointments like in case of Stephen Constantine. It is the job of the technical committee to shortlist the candidates who have applied and recommend the suitable person to become coach. But this time, there was not even a single technical committee meeting to appoint successor of Stimac,” Bhutia told PTI.

“There was not a single meeting of technical committee to discuss how many candidates have applied, who were to be shortlisted, nothing of this sort happened this time. The process was followed in the past but not this time. “If you are going to bypass the technical committee in the head coach appointment, why are we for. I said in the executive committee meeting that since the technical committee was not involved, there was no value of technical committee, then why are we for. So, I said I am resigning from technical committee membership.” Bhutia said a special committee under AIFF vice president NA Haris was dealing with the matter of finding a successor to Stimac, and he was completely against it.

“I completely opposed the constitution of the special committee. There is a technical committee already in place and how come you formed a special committee to discuss the appointment of the coach.

“The process itself is wrong. The coaches are hired, fired and given extension by executive committee without having any discussion with the technical committee. The president proposes one or two names and the executive committee agrees to one.” The other members of the AIFF technical committee include Shabir Ali, Climax Lawrence, Victor Amalraj and Santosh Singh, among others.

The AIFF said Vijayan attended the meeting via video conference.

When contacted, AIFF acting Secretary General M Satyanarayan also said Vijayan was consulted in the coach appointment process.

“There should not be any controversy here. I think technical committee chairman was consulted,” Satyanarayan said.

The Round of 16 is all set to begin on Saturday. Following the impressive performances by teams like Germany and Spain, many are wondering if the 2024 Euros is the tournament where these giants will end their trophy drought. In an exclusive conversation with IANS, former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia revealed that he believes the Germans are the favourites heading into the knockout stages. “I think Germany’s got a history of, it’s like Real Madrid in the Champions League. It’s the same with Germany, Spain and Italy, they always do well in all these knockout matches. Germany definitely is one of the favourites and they’ve started very well and they look a very strong, balanced side and is one of the few teams that have really played so far very well,” Bhutia told IANS.

A lot of questions currently revolve around Kai Havertz and his place in the German national team. The striker has performed well and got a goal and an assist in the opening game. Despite the two contributions, many are hailing for the inclusion of Niclas Fullkrug in the side after the Dortmund forward scored the late equaliser against Switzerland to secure the top place in Group A.

“I think when the team is doing well, you don’t want to make those changes upfront. Yes, we could have seen much more from Kai Havertz, especially getting a few more goals for them, but it’s not happened I think it’s linking the team well. The substitutes have come in and really delivered. I don’t think they should make many changes in terms because it’s really working well for them. It’s just that he needs one or two goals to, you know, get him going,” he added.

Alongside Germany, Spain have looked a lot like their past self. They started the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Croatia and were the only team to win all their games in the Group Stage. They now face Georgia in the Round of 16 and can potentially be pitted opposite hosts Germany in the quarterfinals.

“I think there has been a great combination of youth and experience on their side. The captain (Alvaro Morata) has been fantastic. He’s getting back to his form and he’s got two young players( Yamal and Williams) at the side playing alongside him. I think Spain has been the best team so far but again, with the team and players, young players like that, when it gets going, when you’re leading, when you score goals, when you’re winning, it’s a great thing.”

“How do you react when you’re a goal down and when you are in that pressure kind of situation? That is a time we’ll have to see if they’re a goal down, what is the kind of reaction these younger players can bring in? And sometimes it’s quite difficult for younger players. The mindset is a bit difficult when you concede,” concluded the former Indian striker.