NEW DELHI, Apr 4: Crispin Chettri is set to return as Indian women’s football team head coach after the Technical Committee of the national federation recommended his name to succeed Costa Rican Amelia Valverde whose brief tenure ended recently.
Chettri was at the helm of affairs during the national team’s qualifying campaign for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. The All India Football Federation (AIFF), however, appointed Amelia in January to take charge of the team in the continental showpiece which concluded last month with Chhetri being made assistant coach.
With India failing to get past the group stage, losing all their three matches, the AIFF decided against renewing Amelia’s contract which was up to the end of the Asian Cup. The IM Vijayan-led technical committee recommended that Indian names be considered to succeed the Costa Rican.
“The AIFF Technical Committee has recommended Crispin Chettri to be the Head Coach of the Senior National Women’s Team for the upcoming two tournaments,” a top source in the AIFF said.
The upcoming two events are the FIFA Women’s Series in Nairobi, Kenya from April 11 to 15 and the SAFF Women’s Championships in Goa from May 25 to June 7.
India are the second-highest ranked side among the four teams in the Nairobi tournament at 67th place, behind Australia (15th), while African sides Kenya and Malawi are placed 133rd and 153rd respectively.
India will face hosts Kenya, while Australia will take on Malawi in the semifinals of the tournament on April 11. The semifinal winners and losers will clash in the final and the third-place play-off, respectively, on April 15.
India are five-time champions in the history of SAFF Women’s Championships, but they lost to Nepal on penalties in the semifinals in the previous edition in Kathmandu in 2024..
The other members of the AIFF’s Technical Committee are Harjinder Singh, Shabbir Ali, Victor Amalraj, Climax Lawrence, Santosh Singh and Pinky Magar.
The panel had earlier recommended that the AIFF should “look at Indian coaches as possible options to take over as the head coach of the senior Indian women’s national team…”.
The committee had said with matches coming up for the team in the April FIFA International window, and the SAFF Women’s Championship, it would be a “good opportunity for an Indian coach to take charge.” (PTI)
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