Igor Stimac: Croatian claims he has offers on the table & will only wait till July for a contract extension | OneFootball

India men's national team head coach, Igor Stimac has confirmed that he will wait no "longer than July" when it comes to extending his contract with the Blue Tigers considering that his current contract runs out in September.

Stimac who was appointed as head coach of India on 15 May, 2019 recently led the Blue Tigers to 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification as his side completely outplayed their opposition, beating Cambodia, Afghanistan and Hong Kong to remain unbeaten in the qualifiers.

Despite the Croatian's contract expiring in September, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) have to yet offer him a new deal - with the 54-year-old confirming that he cannot afford to wait for a very long time.

"I do have offers on the table and will wait till July, not longer than that. I will respect everything what we have done. I will respect the great support I had from AIFF, particularly Patel, Kushal, Abhishek and the organisation. Whoever is there now, or whoever will be there next, I respect the institution. But I cannot afford to wait for a very long time," he said in an interview.

"The offers are there till teams start pre-season, and if I don't accept now, I will have to wait for mid-season or longer when teams makes changes (for poor performance). It's not the ideal situation to take over. If I take something now, it will be in my hands to choose the players I want, have the pre-season the way I want. That's why I am keen that the future is sorted with India," the Croatian added.

Despite leading India to 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Stimac has come in for criticism for the Blue Tigers' poor performance in the recent past and it will be interesting to see what the Committee of Administrators (CoA) heading the AIFF decide to do regarding his future.