India football coach Constantine resigns after India's Asian Cup exit: AIFF
Sharjah, Jan 15: Indian football team head coach Stephen Constantine has stepped down after the team's shock 0-1 defeat to Bahrain which led to its exit from the showpiece Asian Cup.
The All India Football Federation, in its official twitter handle, said that the 56-year-old Constantine has resigned.
"Mr. @StephenConstan has announced his resignation as the Head Coach of the Indian National Team. We haven't received any official communication from him yet but we accept his decision & thank him for his contribution to #Indianfootball: Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF," the tweet said.
His contract was to end on January 31.
Constantine's resignation came after India crashed out of the showpiece Asian Cup under dramatic circumstances here Monday.
India were on the verge of booking its maiden knockout round berth as the final Group A match was 0-0 till the 90th minute when Bahrain earned a penalty which the West Asian team converted to win the game under dramatic circumstances.
India needed just a draw to qualify for the Round of 16 but the defeat meant that it finished at the bottom of the four-team Group A to crash out of the tournament.
The Anglo-Cypriot coach took over the reigns of the team in 2015 for an initial two-year tenure. He was given one-year contract extension twice.
It was his second stint as India coach after serving as coach in 2002-05.
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Dhyan Chand lifetime award to be replaced by Arjuna lifetime
New Delhi, Oct 24: The sports ministry on Thursday announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and the introduction of the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to "rationalise" the various sporting honours of the country.
Instituted in 2002, the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand, is given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.
In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.
"The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award," said a ministry statement.
"The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.
"Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games," it added.
The last date for applying for the national sports awards for 2024 is November 14.
