AIFF names former India international Shukla Dutta as head coach of Indian Women's U19 Football team

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Saturday appointed former India women's international of repute Shukla Dutta as the head coach of the Indian Women's U19 Football team for SAFF Championship in February.

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Meanwhile, the committee also approved the appointment of former India international Sradhanjali Samantaray as assistant coach and Lourembam Ronibala Chanu as goalkeeper coach.

The decision was taken by the AIFF technical committee, which held a virtual meeting on Saturday to finalize the selection of the coaching staff for the Women's U19 Football team.

The meeting was chaired by former India captain IM Vijayan and was attended by AIFF acting general secretary Satyanarayana M, technical committee vice-president Manoranjan Bhattacharya, members Pinky Bompal Magar, Harjinder Singh, Arun Malhotra, Climax Lawrence, Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Technical Director Syed Sabir Pasha.

After extensive deliberations, the committee appointed Shukla Dutta as the head coach of the Indian Women's U19 Football team. Dutta has previously coached the Indian Under-17 women's team and led the Rising Students Club to the 2017–18 Indian Women's League title.

The Indian Women's U19 Football team is set to begin its camp in Goa in the first week of January in preparation for the upcoming SAFF U19 Women's Championship.

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While welcoming the members of the Technical Committee, the Acting Secretary General said: "The Under-19 SAFF for Women is an important tournament for us. This tournament is a stepping stone for talented players to move to the next level, which is the Seniors. For the selection of the U19 coach, we put out an advertisement and then shortlisted the candidates. I am happy that thereafter the Technical Department of the AIFF and the Technical Committee discussed the issue in depth and could select the right people for the post of Head Coach and other support staff. It is great to find that we have an all-women technical staff for the U19 Women's team."