Unhappy with the lackadaisical attitude of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), technical director Robert Baan is unlikely to renew his contract which ends in October. The 69-year-old Dutchman, who was critical of Indian players aimlessly trying their luck overseas, is upset that his ambitious 125-page master plan 'Lakshya' hasn't been implemented by the AIFF since it was launched last August.
A top AIFF official told IANS that Baan, who has also been a technical director with Australia, is upset with the working of the federation and is unlikely to extend his stay in India when his two-year-contract contract comes up for renewal in October. "For the last two years Baan's role has been reduced to just writing a master plan for the AIFF. And then when it was released the AIFF felt it was too expensive to be implemented. He is extremely unhappy since there is no opportunity for him to work in India and is unlikely to extend his contract with the AIFF," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Baan had an annual package of Rs.2 crore, a part of which was paid by the Oranje Sports Forum and the AIFF. The master plan was aimed at revolutionising the game in the country and help India qualify for the 2022 World Cup. But even after a year the AIFF is yet to implement it citing high costs. The Dutchman's only other contribution was to oversee the setting up of the AIFF-FIFA regional elite academy in Kolkata.
Baan earlier had been critical of the AIFF. He slammed the governing body for not having any national team training centre, no elite academies, no budget as far as implementing the Lakshya 2022 project is concerned. Baan was also critical of India captain Sunil Chettri and had called him a "big flop" for his stints abroad.
