AIFF re-appoints Thomas Dennerby as women's team head coach upon players' insistence

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday re-appointed Swedish coach Thomas Dennerby as the national women's team head coach ahead of the AFC Olympic Qualifiers Round 2, even though its technical committee had recommended Gokulam Kerala's Anthony Andrews' name.

On July 13, the technical committee of the AIFF under the legendary IM Vijayan as the chairman, had recommended Andrews, who guided Gokulam Kerala FC to back-to-back Indian Women's League (IWL) titles in the last two seasons, to succeed Dennerby whose earlier contract had ended in March.

But, it is learnt that many players in the national team wanted Dennerby's continuation and had requested for the same to the AIFF.

Dennerby was in charge of the national team in the first round of Olympic qualifiers, against Kyrgyzstan on April 4 and 7, which India won.

He is now at the helm again for the second round of the Olympic qualifiers in October.