Germany willing to help AIFF

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has sought their help and world champions Germany want to reciprocate.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has sought their help and world champions Germany want to reciprocate.

"The AIFF recently asked us to share our knowledge, especially within the technical fields such as coach education, players' development, etc. The DFB (German national football federation) is willing to assist the AIFF," said Markus Weidner in an email to HT on Tuesday.

Weidner is the head of coach education and international relations, DFB.

Finding a coach for the India under-17 team for the 2017 World Cup is on the agenda for the meeting scheduled next month, said an AIFF official. The AIFF may also ask the DFB to find a replacement for the senior India coach Wim Koevermans, whose contract expires on October 31.

Asked about this, Weidner said the DFB must first find out what the AIFF wants. "Of course, a delegation of German experts could be an integral part of a possible partnership."

Speaking over the phone from New Delhi, AIFF general secretary, Kushal Das, said Koevermans' future and his successor would be discussed next month by the technical committee headed by Bhaichung Bhutia.

Before the Asian Games, the AIFF was looking at appointing Koevermans as the technical director, replacing Robert Baan whose term ends on December 31. But there could be a rethink after India's underwhelming performance in Incheon.

In 14 years since a disastrous European championships campaign, Germany got clubs to invest heavily in youth development and align all the stake-holders right down to the amateur level to help develop the national team.