Kalyan Chaubey pips Bhaichung Bhutia to become new AIFF president
Shaji Prabhakaran was appointed as the new Secretary General of the All India Football Federation.
Former Indian goalkeeper Kalyan Chaubey was elected as the new president of the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF). He will become the first ex-player to hold the top office of India’s football governing body in its 85 years of existence.
The 45-year-old Kalyan Chaubey pipped Indian football legend and former club team-mate Bhaichung Bhutia to the post by a 33-1 margin in the elections held on Friday. Representatives from the 34 member associations cast their votes.
Kalyan Chaubey never played a senior match for the Indian national football team but made the squad on several occasions between 1999 to 2006. He has represented India internationally in junior age groups.
ओलंपिक और खेल खबरें हिन्दी में: यहां क्लिक करें
The TATA Football Academy (TFA) graduate also enjoyed a successful club career, having turned out for both Kolkata giants East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, as well as JCT and Salgaocar, during his playing days.
After retiring from football, Kalyan Chaubey joined politics in 2015 and contested Lok Sabha elections from West Bengal in 2019. His nomination for the AIFF president was backed by the Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh state bodies.
"At the outset, we will work on a short-term plan, and will then meet in Kolkata later this month. I want to involve all eminent footballers to work on the different challenges Indian football is facing today, and to realise the dreams of the respective states. After 100 days, we plan to unveil the roadmap for Indian Football and take the next step,” Kalyan Chaubey said.
Kalyan Chaubey will succeed former president Praful Patel, who was removed from his post by the Supreme Court of India in May.
Praful Patel had been the AIFF president for 12 years, having completed three four-year terms and was not eligible for any more terms under the laws laid down in India’s National Sports Code.
However, no fresh elections were held for the post of AIFF president, necessitating the Supreme Court to step in to appoint a committee of administrators (CoA) to handle the AIFF’s daily functioning.
The appointment of the CoA later became one of the main reasons behind FIFA banning the AIFF for ‘undue third-party influence’, which went against the FIFA charters.
FIFA, however, lifted the suspension after 11 days once the CoA was dissolved and control was handed over to Sunando Dhar, the acting AIFF secretary general, until a new committee was elected. FIFA and AFC continue to monitor the situation.
As the new AIFF president, Chaubey’s first big challenge will be to successfully host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, scheduled from October 11 to 30. He also revealed that FIFA president Gianni Infantino had called him after the election.
“He (Infantino) wanted to meet me in Zurich or Doha later this year. I briefed him the importance of the next few days. We have the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 next month, and told him that we need to discuss amongst ourselves how we plan to take things forward. We will then present our plans to him in detail,” Chaubey said.
Besides the president’s post, the elections for the new vice-president and treasurer for the AIFF were also contested.
Karnataka Football Association president N A Haris, a sitting MLA, won the election for the vice president post, beating Rajasthan FA’s Manvendra Singh.
Arunachal Pradesh's Kipa Ajay beat Gopalakrishna Kosaraju of Andhra Pradesh for the treasurer's post.
All 14 executive committee member candidates were elected unopposed.
Dr Shaji Prabhakaran appointed as new AIFF Secretary General
Kalyan Chaubey, on Saturday, proposed Football Delhi president Dr Shaji Prabhakaran’s name as the new Secretary General of the AIFF and the IT was unanimously approved by all the members.
“Dr. Shaji’s previous experience as FIFA Regional Development Officer will bring in new and fresh ideas which will provide the much-needed fillip to Indian Football,” Kalyan Chaubey noted.
The AIFF Executive Committee also unanimously appointed Sunando Dhar as the new Deputy Secretary General.
Indian football great IM Vijayan was appointed as the Chairman of the new AIFF Technical Committee. Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Climax Lawrence, Harjinder Singh, Arun Malhotra and Pinki Bompal will be the other members of the technical committee.
Former Indian football team captain Shabbir Ali was named as the Chairman of the Advisory Committee.