Manolo Marquez appointed new head coach of India men's football team

Manolo Marquez was on Saturday officially appointed as the head coach of the India men’s senior football team. Marquez will succeed Igor Stimac, who was sacked as the head coach of the Blue Tigers after the team failed to qualify for the third round of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed the development via a press release, following the board’s Executive Committee meeting that was chaired by AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey.

Marquez, who is also the head coach of FC Goa in the Indian Super League, will continue to take up responsibilities concurrently before taking up as the India head coach full time at the end of the domestic season next year. “During the 2024-25 season, Mr. Marquez will continue his role as the head coach of first team at FC Goa, handling both responsibilities concurrently before assuming the national coaching role on a full-time basis,” an AIFF press release said.

The Spaniard said that he was honoured to be coaching the Indian football team, and termed India as his “second home”. “It’s an honour for me to be the National Football Team coach of India, a country I consider my second home. India and its people are something I feel attached to and I feel a part of since I first came to this beautiful country. I want to do my best to bring success to the millions of fans we have.

“I am very grateful to FC Goa for allowing us the flexibility to help the national team during the coming season while I am still the club’s head coach. I’m grateful to the AIFF for this opportunity and we hope to do great things for football,” he said.

AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey was confident that India will thrive under the 55 year-old. “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Marquez to this important role and are also thankful to FC Goa for their generosity of releasing him for national duty. We look forward to working with Mr. Marquez in the years ahead. The AIFF, FC Goa, and Mr. Marquez will collaborate closely to ensure there is minimal impact between the two jobs and strive to achieve the best possible results for all involved," he said.

Manolo Marquez has extensive knowledge and experience of Indian football and coaching national team players, especially youngsters. Many national team players in the last few years were called up from his Hyderabad FC team.

Marquez has been coaching in India since 2020. He has coached two ISL clubs – his first stint was with Hyderabad FC (2020-23), before he switched over to FC Goa (2023-present). He is an ISL Cup winner with Hyderabad FC in 2021-22. Overall, Marquez had an extensive coaching career in Spain – Las Palmas (top division) and Las Palmas B, Espanyol B, Badalona, Prat, Europa (third division).

On other developments, based on the recommendation of the AIFF President Shri Chaubey, the Executive Committee of the AIFF has resolved on Saturday to appoint Anilkumar Prabhakaran as the Secretary General of the AIFF. The Executive Committee has also accepted the resignation of Anilkumar from the AIFF Executive Committee and all other sub-committees he was a part of. Anilkumar’s appointment will be subject to the internal protocols and induction procedures as required by the AIFF Constitution and he will take charge once the procedures are completed.