Khalid Jamil’s Role As Indian Men’s Football Coach Awaits Final Nod, Is The Deal Done?

On August 1, 2025, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Khalid Jamil as the new head coach of the men national football team of India after a 13 year gap without any Indian coach after Savio Medeira in 2012. The ruling, which is the verdict of the AIFF Technical Committee headed by IM Vijayan and passed by the Executive Committee members such as Kalyan Chaubey, makes Jamil an epitome of confidence in national coaching skills.

His career as a manager

A 40 year old national team midfielder, Jamil has made a career as a manager with 250 matches of resilience and resourcefulness that helped underdog Aizawl FC to an unlikely I-League title in 2016/17 and led him to manage some of the best clubs in the country, including these north east clubs, Mohun Bagan, East Bengal, NorthEast United and at present Jamshedpur FC. He is also a single Indian coach to advance to playoffs in the ISL and has received AIFF Men coach of the year thrice in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The first international Jamil will be managing is the CAFA Nations Cup, which is scheduled to start late August, and the most important: the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers are to take place in October when India is expected to play Singapore both in their stadium and away. These are important fixtures in the race to the 2027 qualification by India and they hugely depend on his tactical abilities.

Details about the contract and Joining date

Jamil and the AIFF are in the process of negotiations. The Telegraph reported Jamil wants a three year contract, which the federation does not seem to be willing to give. The fact that his date of joining is also connected to the Jamshedpur FC being involved in the Durand Cup leading up to August 23. It is not clear whether he will be part of the national camp before India plays its first game on August 29 and the AIFF is scheduled to meet ISL CEOs in the course of an August 7 meeting. Altogether, Jamil appointment is an important breakthrough on the level of trusting Indian coaching talent. He is labeled with his never say die attitude and tactical strengths but now he will need to translate the club success and bring nation on its revival stage, with a huge task ahead but with a lot of financial and organizational uncertainty in Indian football. 

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