Indian football coach Stimac picked team on astrologer's advice: Report

Then secretary-general of AIFF Kushal Das said that astrologer Bhupesh Sharma was paid Rs 12 to 15 lakh for his services for May and June 2022

For the crucial Asian Cup match against Afghanistan in June 2022, Indian football team coach Igor Stimac picked the team on the advice of Bhupesh Sharma, an astrologer from Delhi-NCR, The Indian Express (IE) reported on Tuesday. Sharma was introduced to Stimac by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Then secretary-general of AIFF Kushal Das admitted to IE that he introduced the two to each other in May 2022.

Stimac had reportedly sent a list with the names of a probable 11 for the game, which was a must-win to remain in contention for the championship. The match was to take place on June 11, and the list was shared on June 9.

 

According to the report, Sharma replied against each player's name with remarks like "Good", "can do very well. Needs to avoid overconfidence", " a below average day", "a very good day for him but might get over aggressive" and "not recommended for the day".

Interestingly, according to Sharma, two big players whose stars were not favourable, did not make it to the playing XI in the match against Afghanistan. India won the match 2-1.

The Indian team played four matches during May and June 2022. These were against Jordan, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. The report said that Stimac shared the list of players with Sharma before every match. He also shared injury updates and substitution strategies.

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The two also met in Kolkata before the Asian Cup qualifiers between June 8 and 14.

After the win against Afghanistan, Sharma messaged Stimac, "Do let me know how close we were in this match player analysis as per charts when you get free."

Stimac replied, "Everything was spot on, I will explain to you when we meet."

The two met later that afternoon to decide the team against Hong Kong, which India won and qualified for the Asian Cup.

Das was also quoted in the report as saying that Sharma was paid Rs 12 to 15 lakh for his services for two months. "That did not seem a huge amount since India qualified for the Asian Cup," he said.

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Das, however, said he was unaware of any conversation between Sharma and Stimac.