AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told PTI today that the federation has received applications for technical director's post along with those of the coach's. He said the AIFF would prefer a foreigner for the Technical Director's post.

"We are also looking for a technical director who will look after the overall development of football in the country. If we can find a suitable person as coach-cum-technical director that would be very good for us but otherwise we will appoint a coach and a technical director," Das said.

"We have received some applications for the technical director's post and it is 70 plus including applications for the coach. We would prefer a foreigner to be the technical director but we have to see for a suitable person," he said.

Asked about the responsibilities the technical director will have, Das said, "He will look after the overall development of football, planning for it, looking for talented players, planning to climb in FIFA rankings and ultimately to take India to the World Cup finals."
"All these he will do in close coordination with the coach," he added.

The AIFF general secretary said that the federation has the wherewithal to have a technical director as well as a coach separately.

"We can have two persons, one a coach and another a technical director," he said when asked about any financial constraint with two people at the helm of affairs.

Having technical directors in Indian football set-up has not been a new thing as many persons have acted in that capacity though for brief periods and mainly for an important tournament or assignment.

German Dietmar Pfiefer was the technical director of the national team in 1981-82.
Meanwhile, some top names are doing the rounds for the coach's job including former Argentine manager Jose Pekerman, German Otto Pfister, Real Madrid assistant coach Jose Ramon, former Manchester United player and Johan Cruyff's son Jordi, 1978 Argentine World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles among others.

Some of these applicants have reportedly asked for big salaries while the AIFF would not be ready to pay more than the USD 30,000 per month it gave to Houghton.

Das said the whole process of appointing a coach and a technical director will be completed soon as the World Cup qualifying round is coming up in late July.

"We will try to complete it as soon as possible. We are having an Executive Committee meeting later this month and we will take a decision fast," said the AIFF general secretary.