Indian Football: Juan Manuel Lillo Demands Huge Salary, Likely to be Rejected by AIFF

Juan Manuel Lillo: No English Speak, Salary Very High, So Rejected

Juan Manuel Lillo, who was interviewed by AIFF on Tuesday for the post of Technical Director, is unlikely to get the job. He is said to have demand huge amount as a salary which is far beyond the budget of AIFF.

According to an AIFF official, the Spanish coach had “demanded an astronomical remuneration which simply will not be possible for AIFF to meet.”

“It was an ok sort of an interaction he had with the AIFF top brass. As expected he has very little knowledge about Indian football but he said that he remembers having watched N P Pradeep in action and also knows names of I M Vijayan and Jo-Paul Ancheri. But I guess that’s not good enough to zero in on him,” an influential AIFF official said.

Moreover his inability to understand and communicate in English was also a factor for AIFF rejecting his candidature. “You can say he has little or no knowledge of English which becomes very difficult. He has however promised that he would take English tuitions and learn the language at the earliest if given the job,” the official remarked.

AIFF still now have five applicants to interview before the final decision is taken and the Indian FA is not in a hurry to zero in on someone. If they are not fully convinced with any of the remaining five, they will still look for other options.

Meanwhile, Mahesh Gawli and Climax Lawrence are likely to lead the teams in the two international friendlies against Maldives and Qatar on July 10 and 17 respectively. However for the two matches against UAE, Gawli is most likely to lead being the senior most pro while Colaco has made it clear that one captain will lead the team in the two crucial matches.