An astrologer helped India coach Igor Stimac in team selection before four crucial matches, which included Asian Cup qualifiers, in May and June last year, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The report quotes Stimac as saying the astrologer “was recommended to me and I was convinced (by others) that I have to check upon his possible effects in sports”. It also quotes Kushal Das, then the secretary-general of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), as confirming that he introduced Stimac to the astrologer, Bhupesh Sharma. Das said there were concerns over whether India would qualify for the Asian Cup: “It was not a comfortable situation. For me, the most important thing was that India should qualify.”

The report quotes Das as saying that the AIFF paid Sharma Rs 12-15 lakh for two months’ services. “That didn’t seem a huge amount since India qualified for the Asian Cup,” Das was quoted as saying.

The Indian team played four matches during the two-month period. A friendly against Jordan and three Asian Cup qualifiers against Cambodia, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong. While India lost the friendly against Jordan 2-0 in May, they won their three Asian Cup qualifiers next month to finish top of their group and qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.

In this period, Stimac and Sharma exchanged almost 100 messages, which showed that they were in touch before each match. The report claimed, on the basis of these messages, that Stimac would run possible team selections and injury updates past Sharma and incorporate his inputs while finalising the playing squad. The report said two established players did not make the starting XI against Afghanistan on June 11 because their stars were not favourable.

Das resigned from his post last year after a change in regime post AIFF elections. Kalyan Chaubey was elected as the new president in September 2022 and Shaji Prabhakaran was named as the new secretary-general.

ESPN has reached out to AIFF for further comments on the matter.

Stimac in the news

In the last year or so, Stimac has made headlines for reasons other than purely footballing ones. He has been vocal about his thoughts on the national team’s growth and also on the subject of Indian Super League clubs releasing their players for national duty; those comments have reportedly not been taken well by the federation.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the AIFF had issued Stimac a show-cause notice for making comments that were deemed a breach of his agreement with the board. The head coach had, in multiple interviews, stated that he wanted ISL clubs to release national team players and be given a sufficient period to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games, AFC Asian Cup, World Cup qualifiers and other international assignments.

“I didn’t, pardon my language now, come to India to lick a**es,” he told The Indian Express. “I came to India to help. If you want my help, I need to tell you the truth. You can face it, you can help me to overcome the problems or you can tell me we’re not going to change anything, please coach go home, and I will go home happily and we’re going to stay friends.”

Stimac wants national team players to be available for the Asian Games, but reports indicate that not all ISL clubs are ready to lose their players. The new ISL season begins on September 21, clashing with the football event at the Asian Games, which starts on September 19. He named Sunil Chhetri, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and defender Sandesh Jhingan in the squad as the three over-23 players for the Asian Games but it’s still not clear whether they will feature in the tournament.

The head coach has also been demanding a long camp of at least four weeks ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January, which again seems likely to be problematic as the first half of the ISL season will run till December 17.