Here's why Indian women's football team has been stranded with no head coach since March

The senior India women's football team has been without a head coach for more than three months. This year features both the second round of Olympic qualifying in October-November and the Asian Games in September. Additionally, it comes six months after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) unveiled its Vision 2047 initiative, which calls for a four-tier league pyramid by 2026 and increasing attention to the women's game.

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The previous head coach was Thomas Dennerby. The Swedish coach oversaw the first round of Olympic qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan on April 4 and 7, even though his contract had expired on March 31. India advanced to the second round by winning both games in Bishkek, 5-0 in the first and 4-0 in the second. Hindustan Times reported that according to a member of the AIFF executive committee who spoke to them on Wednesday, the Indian players wanted Dennerby to go at least through the second round of the Olympic qualifying matches. "The players said there is no time to adjust to a new coach now," the official said.

India has been grouped with Japan, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan for the second round of Olympic qualifiers

India, which is ranked 60th by FIFA, has been drawn into a group containing Japan, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan for the second round. They are due to play Uzbekistan on November 1, Vietnam on October 29, and Japan on October 26. Each group's top two teams will advance to the third round, where the top two teams will advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Notably, two of the group members, Japan and Vietnam, have already qualified for the Women’s World Cup, scheduled to take place between July 20 and August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

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The AIFF's technical committee, led by IM Vijayan, convened on May 27; however, if a decision was made about the head coach of the senior women's football team's future, it was not made public. A suggestion to nominate Anthony Andrews, who won the 2022–23 Indian Women's League with Gokulam Kerala, was turned down, as reported by Hindustan Time. On Thursday, July 13, the technical committee will convene again to discuss further on the matter, as per reports.