Kolkata: English manager Stephen Constantine, who led India to a historic peak in FIFA rankingis deeply disappointed by the country’s current freefall and believes he should still be in charge to manage the team.
The 63-year-old English tactician was shortlisted to coach India for a third term before Khalid Jamil stepped in and handed him a full-time contract.
In an exclusive interview with PTI from Rwanda, where he leads the national team, he partly blamed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the slump. He said they should have done more to maintain stability after the ISL deal ended.
In addition, he called for wider structural reforms, including promotion and relegation, youth development and a clear coaching pathway.
“I should be in India, but I’m not. When you give seven years of your life to your national team, of course I have a vested interest,” he said.
His disappointment is understandable after being overlooked for the India job despite the AIFF technical committee recommending his name to replace Manolo Marquez last year.
Konstantini argued that Xhamili was handed the task of the senior national team, despite “zero” international coaching experience.
“This time I was shortlisted for the India job. They put in Khalid Jamil. OK, fair enough,” continued Constantine, who now has coaching experience in six different countries including Nepal and Pakistan in his experience of over 25 years.
“But Khalid Jamil has zero experience in international football. Now, if you want an Indian coach, then put the Indian coach in a position where he can develop.
“Put him under 23, put him under 20 and then make him coach of the Indian national team. You can’t put someone who has no experience at all just because you want an Indian coach. And that’s exactly what happened.” Constantine had two successful spells as India coach, overseeing one of the most significant periods in the national team’s recent history.
During his second tenure (2015–2019), he led India to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, won the 2016 SAFF Championship and the 2018 Intercontinental Cup, while improving his FIFA ranking from 171st to a two-decade best 96th in July 2017.
In his first stint (2002–2005), he guided India to the 2002 LG Cup title in Vietnam, cementing his place among the country’s most successful national team coaches.
“So it’s very disappointing. Obviously, the decline has been there. But, you know, there’s a lot of things that don’t go well… You can’t let the senior players decide what’s going to happen in the national team. That’s been the case since I left.
“You have to have a proper league. You have to have promotion-relegation. We haven’t had that for some time. There has to be youth development. We have to have Indian coaches developing.” “Also, AIFF, I don’t know everything, but you have an agreement with the ISL that has ended. But you should have done a lot more to continue that relationship to make things right.”
First, they dominate the region
He further said that India must first dominate their region before they can realistically aspire to qualify for the World Cup.
“When I came to India for the second time and Mr. Patel (then AIFF president Praful Patel) said to me, coach, how do we go to the World Cup? And I said, Sir, we are not going to dominate the SAAF region. How are we going to qualify for the World Cup? “We have not been to the Asia Cup on merit for a very long time. How will we qualify for the World Cup? “I mean, right now Indian football is in freefall. Now, qualifying for the World Cup for India at this point is not in the cards. First, you have to qualify for the Asian Cup regularly.
“You have to dominate the SAFF region regularly. If you’re not doing those two things, you’re not going to the World Cup even if they put 100 teams.
“It’s very disappointing for me. Obviously, I’ve spent seven years as the national coach. But I think the first time with Bhaichung Bhutia, Joe Paul Ancheri and a lot of other players, we gave a very good account of ourselves.
“My job was there for everyone to see. I could have been the Indian coach for the third time, but I’m not. And that’s good. I’m here in Rwanda. We have a good team,” he said as they aim to qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We won the first two games we played here in the FIFA series. We won the FIFA series. And now we have the African Cup qualifiers coming up in September.” India are scheduled to play two friendly matches against New Zealand this November, the team fresh from playing in the World Cup where they finished bottom of Group G with one draw and two defeats.
Constantine questioned the value of playing friendlies against teams like New Zealand and said India would benefit more from facing strong Asian opposition that they are likely to face in competitive tournaments.
“You won’t face New Zealand in the Asian Cup, the SAFF Championship or the World Cup qualifiers.
“If you want meaningful experience, play Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China — the teams you’re likely to meet in competitive matches.
“It’s nice to play New Zealand, but from a football perspective, it doesn’t make much sense to me.”
The World Cup is not about charity
He said the 48-team World Cup has largely worked, but is not convinced expanding to 64 teams would benefit the tournament, warning it could affect quality and create logistical problems.
“Look, I wasn’t sure if 48 teams would be a bit thin. There were some results in the early group stages that suggested some teams were out of their depth at this level.
“However, it’s called the World Cup and the World Cup starts with the pre-qualifiers that we had in India a few years ago. So everyone is involved in the World Cup at one level or another.” “Getting to the World Cup has to be earned… It’s not about charity. And I think 48 teams and this World Cup, it’s been a good World Cup, a lot of fun. But I don’t know what 64 teams will look like. How will that work logistically? So I don’t know.”
