Indian football team coach Stephan Constantine during a practice session. (TOI Photo)

CHENNAI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) offered Stephen Constantine an extension of his contract till the AFC Asian Cup next year. The eight-member technical committee, headed by Shyam Thapa , took a unanimous decision in a meeting in Mumbai on Wednesday, which was attended by AIFF general secretary Kushal Das .

As reported by TOI on Tuesday, AIFF was all set to persist with the 55-year-old coach following his track record. The only issue was that the British coach, who earns $20,000 (Rs 1280000 approximately) per month, demanded a revision in salary. It was learnt that the AIFF is set to offer him a raise of 20 to 25 per cent. Constantine, whose contract expires at the end of March, will now take a final call on whether to accept the offer or not. The technical committee recommendation will then be forwarded to the AIFF executive committee to be ratified.

A technical committee member, however, said that if Constantine demands more, AIFF might have to think of other options. "When a coach does well, it is not out of turn to ask for a hike. So we will offer him a 20 per cent hike and can go up to 25 per cent. However, if he demands more, we might not be in a position to retain him. We are running on a tight budget and want to organise tournaments and matches for the national team in a bid to prepare them well for the tournament. Das is likely to talk to Constantine in the next couple of days and finalise the deal. With only 11 months remaining for the Asian Cup, we don't want to delay the process any further," the member told TOI.

Constantine, who started his second spell as India coach back in 2015, had earlier got a 14-month extension in November 2016. India have remained unbeaten in the last 13 matches, winning 11 and drawing twice, under Constantine. The results propelled India's FIFA rankings too as they broke into the top-100 (96) last year after two decades. However, reports of players' revolt cast a doubt over Constantine's future.

Thapa said AIFF never received any official complaints from the players. "The players never gave us any written complaints. So we don't really know what happened. The Indian team has qualified for the 2019 Asian Cup and are among the top 15-ranked Asian countries. The fitness of the players has also improved considerably. So there was no reason for the AIFF not to offer a contract to Constantine. We have also decided to renew the contracts of the support staff," Thapa said.

