Crucial meeting between Stimac and AIFF on Saturday

Igor Stimac flew in from Vietnam early on Wednesday and has since met officials of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and representatives from FIFA. He will be meeting AIFF secretary-general Shaji Prabhakaran again on Saturday. While the meeting with FIFA was to provide feedback on the national team which would help the world body with its inputs on the roadmap AIFF is working on, Saturday’s discussion will largely be on preparations for the Asian Cup finals.

“It will be a free-flowing discussion on the way forward for the national team with specific focus on the Asian Cup finals,” said Prabhakaran on Thursday.

The discussion is crucial as Stimac, who now has a new deal till 2024, has repeatedly said he would want an eight-week preparatory camp ahead of the finals. That could mean rejigging the ISL schedule if the Asian Cup is held in January 2024 or later 2023. Should Qatar host it, that would be the likely slot.

How to use the next international window, in March 2023, too is likely to feature in the discussion.

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