If I stay as India coach, the league must start when I say: Igor Stimac

Stimac has set conditions for continuing as coach, stressing that the national team players must spend more times together and calling for changes in the domestic football. India completed their third-round qualifying campaign with a perfect note, blanking Hong Kong 4-0 for their third successive win in the group here on Tuesday and securing a place in football's continental showpiece tournament next year. The stellar show by Stimac-managed team has come against the backdrop of a court move, dismissing Praful Patel-led dispensation in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and appointing a three-member Committee of Administrators to run the affairs and draw up a new constitution of the federation.

"You can hear things about changes (in AIFF) in the coming months. There will be things that will come out and there will be conditions for me to stay. Some things must change drastically and I don't care who is on the opposite side - be it the FSDL, AIFF or the government.

I'm here talking about the national team, and, if there are ambitions in the country to think where we can be, they must follow our motto," Stimac said in a no-holds-barred tone. Stimac's current contract with Indian football runs out in September. One of the conditions Stimac set during his interaction with the mediapersons is linked to more game time for his players by their respective clubs.

For example, Jamshedpur FC's Ishan Pandita - who scored India's fourth goal against Hong Kong - managed to play just 400-odd minutes in 17 matches in the last ISL season. "In future if I stay here, the league must start when I say. The players picked by us must play in their clubs.