Highlights
- The 45-year-old Chaubey, a former goalkeeper with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, won 33-1.
- Chaubey defeated the former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia in the election.
Kalyan Chaubey, a BJP politician and former football player has been elected as the new All India Football Federation (AIFF) President.
Chaubey defeated the former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia in the election on Friday. It is the first time in AIFF’s 85-year history that a former player has occupied the presidential post.
The 45-year-old Chaubey, a former goalkeeper with Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, won 33-1. The result was expected as Bhutia did not have many supporters in the 34-member voter list made up of state association representatives.
Often named ”Sikkim Sniper” - Bhutia could not even get his state association representative as proposer or seconder for filing his nomination papers.
Who is Kalyan Chaubey?
Chaubey, a BJP politician who lost the last parliamentary election for the Krishnanagar seat in West Bengal, never played for the India senior team despite being in the squad on a few occasions.
He, however, played for India in age-group international tournaments. He was also a former goalkeeper at both Mohun Bagan and East Bengal. Bhutia and Chaubey were one-time teammates at East Bengal.
Who won what?
Karnataka Football Association President N A Haris, a sitting Congress MLA, won the election for the lone post of vice president, beating Manvendra Singh of Rajasthan FA. Arunachal Pradesh's Kipa Ajay beat Gopalakrishna Kosaraju of Andhra Pradesh for the Treasurer's post.
All the 14 candidates who had filed nominations for as many executive committee members' posts were elected unopposed.
Elections were conducted after the three terms and twelve years of tenure of Praful Patel as the President. Patel is now accused of arranging a letter from FIFA and Asian Football Confederation threatening a ban on India. The election for the AIFF post was avoided on basis of mere assumptions since 2020.
The world football governing body FIFA had suspended AIFF for "undue influence by third parties" which was revoked after the Supreme Court of India dissolved the Committee of Administrators (CoA) constituted. The judgment came after the ouster of Praful Patel as the head of the national federation for not holding polls due in December 2020.
(Inputs PTI)
