New Delhi: The member associations of All India Football Federation (AIFF) are planning to bring forth a no-confidence motion against president and BJP functionary Kalyan Chaubey as reported by The Telegraph. They are hoping to be backed by two senior politicians of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The former AIFF president, Praful Patel is said to be one of the politicians while the other is a senior BJP leader and functionary for a football association in North India. Previously Chaubey had defeated former India football captain Baichung Bhutia in September 2022 and took over as the AIFF president from Patel.
It is believed that about 12 members could be meeting Patel, a senior NCP leader, most likely Ajit Pawar and a Rajya Sabha member in New Delhi right after the February 1st budget and try to move forward with the episode.
Former AIFF secretary-general Shaji Prabhakaran is also being reported to be taking an active part, having been removed from his position back in November 2023. A senior official has told The Telegraph that they were bringing a no-confidence motion having gathered the “pace for the cause and “support from 24 associations”.
Currently, the AIFF has 36 member associations, along with two affiliated parts, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir, who do not have voting rights due to their internal turmoil. The AIFF constitution states that the Executive Committee will summon the Special General Body Meeting if one-third of the Member Associations give in writing for such a request.
Further, it also says that the request will state items on the agenda. The Special General Body Meeting shall be held within 60 days of receiving the request. If the members do send the no-confidence motion, both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will be sending representatives who will monitor the Special General Meeting.
However, the officials speaking to The Telegraph said that they had nothing against the Chaubey but were “fighting against the system”. They noted that Football was always suffering and it is the President who needs to be held accountable.
Chaubey when he had taken over as the president had promised more transparency and professionalism and everyone was hopeful from the former goalkeeper. However, critics noted that Indian football which has now ranked at 126 in FIFA rankings has only turned its course for worse.
Indian football’s development under Kalyan Chaubey
Chaubey’s supporters though were confident that there was little to worry about the motion. Primarily they noted that his adversaries do not have one-third members on their side. They further pointed out that many positives came about since Chaubey took charge.
Chaubey’s supporters said that more than 300 games had been broadcasted or streamed across platforms. New stadiums are also being built as football is growing across India. Even some of his adversaries lauded Chaubey for I-League, I-League 2, Indian Women’s League, and men’s and women’s football championships being either broadcasted or streamed.
Members of AIFF have started garnering support for bringing in a no-confidence motion that will see the removal of Kalyan Chaubey as its association Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
