Panel member not happy but AIFF defends decision on U-17 coach

The process of selection of the Indian team head coach for the upcoming U-17 football World Cup has not gone down well with a few members of the committee tasked to make the recommendation as they felt "bypassed" by the national federation.

A member of the special committee constituted by All India Football Federation to recommend the coach has alleged that the AIFF has bypassed the panel in naming Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos as the "number one choice".

The AIFF, however, defended its decision with its General Secretary Kushal Das saying that he (de Matos) was best suited for the job.

Indian football legends Baichung Bhutia and I M Vijayan, another former India international Abhishek Yadav (also Chief Operating Officer of the U-17 team) and AIFF Technical Director Savio Madiera were among the members of the special committee to shortlist the coach. Other members are Das and Kishore Taid, Head of Operations and Strategy of the AIFF.

"We have never recommended any coach as number one choice. AIFF has bypassed the special committee constituted by the president to select the coach of India U-17 team," a member of the special committee told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)