"We were stealing the scouting platforms...," Igor Stimac makes shock revelation

Igor Stimac opened up about bad working conditions within the national team.

Former India head coach Igor Stimac has decided to reveal the underwhelming conditions in which he and his coaching staff were forced to work before his recent dismissal from the job. In particular, the Croatian was infuriated by how little help he and his fellow coaches received before the AFC Asian Cup in January.

Stimac has revealed that the AIFF failed to provide them with necessary GPS equipments and even video cameras for analyzing the players’ strengths and weaknesses. But, the most shocking thing he’s revealed is that the Indian coaching staff had to basically steal certain scouting information from FC Goa before the tournament.

He explained, “So, we had to work without GPS equipment in the AFC Asian Cup. We didn’t even get video cameras that were requested a long time ago prior to the Asian Cup, which me and my journalist arranged for AIFF for $10,000 to purchase for one year, so that we could have normal work and analyze our training sessions. Even I told them that I’d pay for those cameras, but no, AIFF would do it was the answer.

“Of course, it was not done once again. So working with no equipment’s was a problem, but not even platforms like Wyscout. Throughout the time, we were rented the scouts from FC Goa, always thinking if he’s going to come or not, if Goa is gong to be in a good position to listen. We used their platforms. I’m sorry, but we were stealing the scouting platforms from FC Goa. That’s how we operated. Nobody knows this,” Stimac added.

Also read: Igor Stimac believes IM Vijayan is not fit to lead AIFF technical committee

Platforms like Wyscout are specifically tailor-made to help football coaches or scouts identify the strengths, weaknesses or best traits in a player. The platform helps coaches get in-depth knowledge of a player’s skills, providing them with the necessary data and statistics which helps show which are a player’s stronger areas and elements that need improving.

As Stimac indicated, the AIFF failed to even get the yearly subscription for this platform sorted for the coaching staff. This played a minor role in India’s underwhelming AFC Asian Cup campaign, where they failed to get a single point or score a goal.

Reacting to media reports surrounding Stimac’s comments, the AIFF issued a statement on Friday evening, saying, “It has come to our attention that former India men’s team head coach Igor Stimac has made certain remarks in the media pertaining to functioning of the All India Football Federation and some of its senior officials. The AIFF will issue a statement in this regards in the next 48 hours.”

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