Indian soccer coach under fire

Feb 23, 2011 |

Tags:

Bob Houghton

New Delhi: India's football authorities on Wednesday expressed concern over its national team's recent poor performance amid reports they had decided to sack English coach Bob Houghton.

India, currently ranked 145th in the FIFA rankings, lost all of their three matches in the Asian Cup at Doha in Qatar last month on their first appearance in the event after 27 years.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Wednesday decided to accept the recommendation of its technical committee, which in its review had expressed disappointment over the national team's performance, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said.

"So, the AIFF executive committee accepted the opinion of the technical committee in its review and decided to remove Houghton," the PTI quoted an unnamed AIFF official as saying.

AIFF general secretary Kushal Das, however, said that no final decision had been made on Houghton.

"The executive committee expressed its concern over the performance of the national team," AIFF said in a statement.

"It also expressed its unhappiness regarding the conduct and derogatory remarks made by Bob Houghton. The executive committee has unanimously decided to seek legal opinion regarding its course of action."

Houghton, named coach in 2006, guided India to two Nehru Cup international tournament wins in 2007 and 2009 besides the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in 2008.

His contract was to run till 2013.

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