Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) India’s chief coach Bob Houghton resigned Saturday after a bitter battle with All India Football Federation (AIFF), which could not prove any of the five charges levelled against him, including that of racial abuse against a referee, due to lack of evidence.

After all the charges were dropped, Houghton ended his five-year stint with the Indian national team.

A top official in the AIFF told IANS that the Englishman, whose contract was till 2013, was reportedly given three to four month’s salary as the final settlement.

Houghton, who was drawing a monthly salary of $30,000, refused to comment but his lawyer Rahul Mehra told IANS that the Englishman was happy as the charges, especially that of racial abuse, were taken back.

“Houghton tendered his resignation since it was not possible for him to work in an acrimonious environment.

“The AIFF dropped all the charges against Bob. But in view of all the allegations, it was not possible for Bob to continue as the chief coach and he tendered his resignation and it was accepted by the AIFF,” Mehra said.

Houghton was on his way out after India’s disastrous Asian Cup campaign in January during which the national team conceded 13 goals and failed to qualify beyond the group stage. During the tournament, the chief coach also angered the AIFF by blaming the federation for not giving facilities to the footballers.

Sacking the Englishman could have cost the AIFF a compensation package of $1 million and to save its bank balance the federation slapped Houghton with a showcause notice March 25.

The allegations against Houghton included racial abuse against referee Dinesh Nair during an international match in Pune, Oct 13. He was also blamed for the poor performance in the Asian Cup and friendly matches and selection of unfit players without consulting the technical committee.

The other charges slapped were working against the interests of the federation; negligence in using the resources of AIFF (Houghton’s mobile phone bill last July ran up to Rs.190,000 and it was Rs.108,000 in August); and utilising AIFF resources for personal purposes. Houghton has also to submit details to the AIFF of Rs.462,000 in expenses incurred by him.

But surprisingly the four-member AIFF committee investigating the charges felt that in the absence of any definitive and concrete evidence the allegations against Houghton cannot be sustained and therefore the federation agreed to withdraw all charges and allegations made against him.

In a statement, the AIFF Saturday said the inquiry committee after examining Houghton’s reply and investigating the matter decided to withdraw all the charges.

“Based on the report of the inquiry committee, the AIFF feels that in the absence of any definitive and concrete evidence the allegations against Mr. Houghton cannot be sustained and therefore the AIFF agrees to withdraw all charges and allegations made against him,” the AIFF statement read.

“However, Mr. Houghton, for his personal reasons, does not wish to continue working in India and in his position as the Head Coach of the Indian Football Team. Mr. Houghton has therefore tendered his resignation. His resignation is accepted by the AIFF. The parties have mutually agreed to terminate the employment contract of Mr. Houghton,” the statement added.

Houghton took over when India were ranked 117th and now as he leaves the national team is 146th. But during his stint, India achieved some success winning 15 of the 35 internationals, mostly against lowly-ranked nations.

India won their maiden Nehru Cup in 2007 and the following year they clinched the AFC Challenge Cup and qualified for the elite Asian Cup after a gap of 24 years. India also retained the Nehru Cup in 2009.

The profile of the national team improved under Houghton. They went on preparatory tours to Barcelona, Portugal and Dubai and their accommodation was also upgraded to five-star.

But despite all the facilities, the national team struggled against top Asian teams. India conceded 13 goals in the Asian Cup and in the run-up to the marquee event the national team lost some international friendlies by big margins. It included a 1-9 drubbing at the hands of Kuwait and 3-6 loss to Yemen last year.

India also fared poorly in the 2007 Asian Cup and 2010 World Cup qualifiers, where India were blanked 1-4 in Lebanon, but did well to hold the West Asian country 2-2 in Goa and lost 3-6 on aggregate.

In the 2007 Asian Cup qualifiers, India conceded nine goals against the mighty Japanese team, trained by Brazilian legend Zico, in both the legs. They suffered more misery against Saudi Arabia, who hammered 10 goals in both home and away matches.

But Houghton will always be remembered as a coach who gave the much needed facelift to Indian football.