AIFF appoints Shukla Dutta as chief coach of women’s U19 team for SAFF Championships

New Delhi: The All India Football Federation on Saturday appointed former India woman international Shukla Dutta as chief coach of the India U19 women’s team with Sradhanjali Samantaray as the assistant coach and Lourembam Ronibala Chanu as the goalkeeper coach for the SAFF Championships in February

The decision was taken by the Technical Committee of the AIFF which met virtually on Saturday to finalise the selection of the coaching staff for the U19 Women’s team.

The meeting was chaired by former India captain IM Vijayan and attended by AIFF Acting Secretary General Satyanarayan M, Deputy Chairman of the Technical Committee Manoranjan Bhattacharya, members Pinky Bompal Magar, Harjinder Singh, Arun Malhotra, Climax Lawrence, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Technical Director Syed Sabir Pasha, the AIFF informed on Saturday.

After extensive deliberations, the committee appointed Shukla Dutta as the head coach of the Indian U19 women’s team. Dutta, a former India international of repute, has previously coached the Indian U17 women’s team and led Rising Student Club to the 2017-18 Indian Women’s League title.

The committee also approved the appointment of former India international Sradhanjali Samantaray as the assistant coach and Lourembam Ronibala Chanu as the goalkeeper coach.

The Indian U19 women’s team is set to begin its camp in Goa in the first week of January in preparation for the upcoming SAFF U19 Women’s Championship.

While welcoming the members of the Technical Committee, the Acting Secretary General said: “The Under-19 SAFF for Women is an important tournament for us. This tournament is a stepping stone for talented players to move to the next level, which is the Seniors. For the selection of the U19 coach, we put out an advertisement and then shortlisted the candidates.

“I am happy that thereafter the Technical Department of the AIFF and the Technical Committee discussed the issue in depth and could select the right people for the post of Head Coach and other support staff. It is great to find that we have an all-women technical staff for the U19 Women’s team,” he said.

–IANS