Conflict, but no interest: The Manolo Marquez, India and FC Goa triangle raises countless questions

This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on July 24, 2024. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.

A month after the unceremonious sacking of Igor Stimac, the All India Football Federation on Saturday appointed Manolo Marquez as the head coach of the Indian senior men’s national team.

At first, Marquez appears to be a good pick for the post. He has spent four years in India as coach with various Indian Super League clubs.

The Spanish national first came to India as a head coach for Hyderabad FC in the 2020-’21 season. The following year, he led the Nizams to their first-ever Indian Super League title, before facing a semi-final exit in the 2022-’23 season.

In June 2023, he was roped in by FC Goa and he led the team to a third-place finish in the league after starting the season with a 12-match unbeaten run.

Marquez, appointed as the Indian coach on a three-year deal, has an impressive CV in the country and has a good record in grooming younger players. But there’s a catch.

For the first year in his three-year contract as the national team’s head coach – the 2024-’25 season – the 55-year-old from Barcelona will not be associated with the Indian national team on a full-time basis.

Instead, Marquez will continue to be the head coach of FC Goa for the upcoming Indian Super League season and will juggle between the two roles.

Surely, there’s a problem in this? The AIFF seems to have overlooked it or rather, have tried to ignore it completely. After all, ignorance is bliss.

“I don’t see any issue of conflict of interest,” M Satyanarayan, the acting secretary general of the national body was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Again, if the past few months has taught us anything, it is the fact that the AIFF has made a habit of refusing to see problems. For example, why would they have extended Stimac’s contract in October without a termination clause if they had noticed any challenges?

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“Bias is a perception,” Satyanarayan added. “The coach is not going to pick poor players just because he comes from one club.”

It is all easier said than done, isn’t it?

Marquez, in his four-year stay in India has played a huge role in developing a young brigade of players including Liston Colaco, Nikhil Poojary, Aakash Mishra and Jay Gupta – all of whom have gone on to don the India colours.

Mishra, who is currently playing for Mumbai City FC, and Gupta – FC Goa’s latest young sensation – play in the same position. Both are talented and handy players in their own right. But if Gupta is preferred for the Indian team, won’t Mishra feel he missed out because he did not play for a certain club?

Surely stating that there is no conflict of interest won’t help in reducing any player animosity that may arise because of this.

One of the major problems faced by Stimac during his stint with the Blue Tigers was securing players from the clubs for national camps. The previous national head coach Stephen Constantine had the same challenge. Marquez and FC Goa were among the teams unwilling to release players ahead of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

Now that he himself is expected to face the same situation, would Marquez rest the players from his own club in the international window? If he does so, won’t that open up a different can of worms?

At a time when Indian sport is getting professional and bringing in specialist experts to handle every aspect of the game (the Indian Olympic contingent in Paris will have a sleep expert close at hand to help the athletes get enough rest), surely the Indian national football team deserves a coach of its own that it doesn’t have to share with anyone?

What makes the Spaniard’s case more interesting is the fact that the situation is no different with the Indian women’s team. Chaoba Devi, who helms the national team, is also the head coach of Indian Women’s League team Kickstart FC.

In fact, only last week, allegations surfaced of Chaoba interfering and trying to influence club transfers by abusing her position as the national coach.

Marquez’s appointment has also ruffled a few feathers within the AIFF. Former India captain Bhaichung Bhutia tendered his resignation as a member of the technical committee after Marquez was appointed without the committee’s consultation.

Marquez, with his experience and success rate, is probably the best person to lead the Indian men’s football team out of the mess it finds itself in. But at what cost?

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