CHENNAI: Finally, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Friday got a former player as its president for the first time in its 85-year history as Kalyan Chaubey registered a comprehensive 33-1 win over his more famed rival Bhaichung Bhutia in the election for the top post.
The contest, as expected, turned out to be a lopsided affair with the former India skipper Bhutia, 45, not having many supporters in the 34-member voters’ list made up of state association representatives. Unlike Bhutia, Chaubey, also 45, did not make an appearance for the senior India team despite being part of the squad. He, however, played as a goalkeeper for India’s legendary clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. Interestingly, the duo was teammates during their playing days with East Bengal.
Speaking soon after being elected AIFF president, Chaubey said he will engage with all stakeholders to take Indian football forward. “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,” he said.
In addition, Karnataka Football Association president NA Haris won the election for vice president post against Rajasthan’s Manvendra Singh with 29 votes against five, while Kipa Ajay of Arunachal Pradesh won against Andhra Pradesh’s Gopalkrishna Kosaraju, to be elected treasurer, with 32 votes against one with one vote being invalid. Furthermore, 14 members of the Executive Committee were elected unopposed.
The elections were conducted under returning officer Umesh Sinha, and assistant returning officer Tapas Bhattacharya in front of FIFA observer Rolf Tanner, and AFC observer Sonam Jigmi. FIFA RDO Prince Rufus was also present on the occasion. The newly-elected AIFF chief also informed that he had received a call from the FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “I received a call from the FIFA president. He 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 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.”
“We plan to reach out to various schools to extend our outreach at the grassroot level. Hence, we will also have detailed discussions with Anurag Thakur (sports minister), Dharmendra Pradhan, and the HRD Ministry,” he said. He also spoke about Bhutia. “Bhaichung’s contribution to Indian Football can never be forgotten. I will definitely welcome his views, and take everyone’s views into consideration.”
In a new twist to the election saga, Manvendra Singh, also a Congress leader, alleged that Union minister Kiren Rijiu “influenced” the outcome of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) elections. According to reports, he said that Rijiju asked the states to not vote for Bhutia. However, Chaubey though said Rijiju visited the hotel where the state unit officials were staying but denied he asked them to not vote for Bhutia.
“That’s a lie,” he said.
The election had strong political undertones too. If Chaubey is a BJP leader from West Bengal, Bhutia was a TMC leader. Question naturally veered towards outside influence. But Chaubey dismissed it saying, “Can you name a federation in which the state or central government or a politician is not part of it?”