Interim coach to lead India's Olympic qualifiers

Indian national football coach Bob Houghton will return home to England on 29 January for treatment of his injured hip and will be replaced temporarily by Colm Toal, a permanent technical director. All India Football Federation President P R Dasmunshi said Houghton will be away for six weeks. During the period Toal will lead India in preliminary Olympic qualifier matches against Myanmar and Iraq.

AIFF has attracted ONGC as sponsor for the Nehru Cup which appears likely to include Sudan, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Syria and Myanmar. "We want to participate in more and more international matches both friendly and competitive, which will help us in raising international ranking. We have decided to shape three national teams A, B and C so that we can respond to any international invitation," Dasmunshi said, as quoted by DNA.