The next head coach of the Indian men's football team is set to be announced on August 1 when the executive committee of the national federation meets in New Delhi with Khalid Jamil emerging as the frontrunner for the vacant job.
While Jamil appears to be the preferred candidate of the technical committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in the three-man short-list, former India coach Stephen Constantine too remains in contention for the top job.
"Yes, the executive committee is meeting on August 1 to take a decision on the men's senior national team head coach," a top official of the AIFF said.
"The members have been given the CVs of all the three short-listed candidates and what they want as remuneration, etc.," he added.
The executive committee has a single point agenda -- the appointment of the men's senior national team head coach.
Given the AIFF's current financial constraints, Jamil will be the favourite to succeed Manolo Marquez as the new head coach. Since the 48-year-old Jamil is currently with Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC, he can immediately hit the road and be ready for the national team assignments.
There is a FIFA international match window in September and India play their AFC Asian Cup qualifying round games on October 9 and 14 -- against Singapore home and away.
A former India midfielder and now an AFC Pro Licensed coach, Jamil was named the AIFF Coach of Year for 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Marquez was in a dual role before parting of ways with the AIFF earlier this month. He was head coach of ISL side FC Goa simultaneously.
But it is not yet clear whether Jamil will also perform dual role or whether he will leave his work at Jamshedpur FC if he gets the India job.
"It's the call of the executive committee and the members will take into account various factors," the source added.
The AIFF had also said that the executive committee, if required, can seek more names for the head coach's job.
"A key takeaway from the deliberations was the shared view that appointing a coach with a deep understanding of the Asian and Indian football ecosystem would be highly beneficial to the national team's immediate and future success," the AIFF said on Saturday.
In terms of international experience, Constantine is way ahead of Jamil. The Anglo-Cypriot has been in charge of the Indian team twice earlier -- from 2002 to 2005, and from 2015 to the Asian Cup in 2019.
The 62-year-old UEFA Pro License holder has also coached East Bengal in the Indian Super League in 2022-23, and was till recently head coach of Pakistan.
He has earlier worked as head coach of countries like Nepal, Malawi and Rwanda.
The third name in the short-list sent to the executive committee by the AIFF technical committee, led by former captain IM Vijayan, is the 52-year-old Stefan Tarkovic, who has earlier coached the Slovakia national team from 2020 to 2022. He was the Kyrgyzstan coach in 2023-2024.
