Asian Cup prelims: India football coach gave details of players to astrologer, picked team on his advice
“Hi dear friend, you can check charts for each player from the list for 11 June. Kick off time is at 20.30.”
ON June 9, 2022, 48 hours before India were scheduled to face Afghanistan in a crucial Asian Cup qualifier in Kolkata, national football team coach Igor Stimac sent this message to Bhupesh Sharma, an astrologer from Delhi NCR, who was introduced to him by a top All India Football Federation (AIFF) official, The Indian Express has learnt.
The “list” Stimac referred to had the names of the probable 11 for the game, a must-win for an out-of-form and injury-ridden India to remain in contention for the prestigious continental championship.
Within hours, the astrologer replied with his remarks against each name: “Good”; “can do very well. Needs to avoid over confidence”; “a below average day”; “a very good day for him but might get over aggressive”; “not recommended for the day”.
An hour before kick-off on June 11, when India’s team for the match was declared, two established names whose stars weren’t favourable, according to the astrologer, did not make the cut.
This conversation wasn’t a one-off.
Indeed, there are close to 100 messages, purportedly exchanged between Stimac, a former Croatian international, and Sharma in May-June 2022. India played four matches during this period: a friendly against Jordan followed by three Asian Cup qualifiers against Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
Before each game, the messages show Stimac was in touch with Sharma. Not only do these messages put a question mark on the integrity of the Indian team’s selection process, they also raise issues of propriety — vital team information being shared with an “outsider” runs the risk of being misused.
The purported messages, reviewed by
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