An Assessment of Emotional Intelligence among Multi Level Indian Football Coaches

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is increasingly recognized as an important psychological competency in sports coaching, influencing communication, leadership, interpersonal relationships, and responses to emotionally demanding situations. However, evidence concerning EI across different qualification levels of Indian football coaches remains limited. Purpose: This study assessed and compared overall emotional intelligence and its components among AFC ‘B’, AIFF ‘C’, and AIFF ‘D’ licensed Indian football coaches. Methods: A descriptive-comparative design was adopted with 135 football coaches, comprising 45 coaches from each qualification level. Emotional intelligence was assessed across ten components: Self-Awareness, Empathy, Self-Motivation, Emotional Stability, Managing Relations, Integrity, Self-Development, Value Orientation, Commitment, and Altruistic Behaviour. Descriptive statistics were calculated, normality was examined using the Shapiro–Wilk test, and group differences were tested using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Bonferroni-adjusted post-hoc comparisons were conducted for significant effects, with statistical significance set at p < .05. Results: AIFF ‘C’ coaches recorded the highest overall EI mean (M = 128.24, SD = 10.88), followed by AIFF ‘D’ (M = 126.38, SD = 9.80) and AFC ‘B’ coaches (M = 126.07, SD = 9.48). However, overall EI did not differ significantly across qualification levels, F(2, 132) = 0.615, p = .542. Nine of the ten EI components also showed no significant between-group differences. Value Orientation was the only component demonstrating a significant group effect, F(2, 132) = 7.008, p = .001. Bonferroni comparisons showed that AIFF ‘C’ coaches scored significantly higher on Value Orientation than AFC ‘B’ coaches (mean difference = 1.11, p = .001), whereas the other pairwise differences were non-significant. Conclusion: Emotional intelligence was largely comparable among AFC ‘B’, AIFF ‘C’, and AIFF ‘D’ Indian football coaches, indicating that differences in formal coaching qualification were not accompanied by systematic differences in overall EI. The isolated difference in Value Orientation suggests that specific emotional competencies may vary independently of overall EI. These findings support greater attention to the deliberate development of emotional and interpersonal competencies within football coach-education programmes.