New Delhi: The All India Football Federation’s former secretary Shaji Prabhakaran lodged a formal complaint against president Kalyan Chaubey for “potential violations” of AIFF, FIFA and AFC’s ethics code and relevant governing regulations on Sunday.
In a letter written to the chairperson of AIFF’s ethics committee, Prabhakaran, who worked under Chaubey from September 7, 2022, to November 7, 2023, cited multiple alleged violations under conflict of interest, allegation of bribery attempt by a political functionary, misrepresentation and misinformation, using the federation’s platforms to further his political career and interference in administrative matters thereby losing the trust of the governing body’s employees.
“There are a number of instances where Mr Kalyan Chaubey has caused serious reputational damages and financial loss to AIFF,” Prabhakaran wrote in his letter, a copy of which is with News9 Sports.
Elaborating on those instances of potential violations in point-by-point details, Prabhakaran said they are “non-exhaustive as there are many other instances where Mr. Kalyan Chaubey has brought AIFF and Indian football into disrepute and above actions of his has seriously dented the image, reputation and integrity of the AIFF.
“All his actions have resulted in serious consequences to the beautiful game in India. The Indian men’s team didn’t win a single match in the calendar year 2024, it is the direct result of his actions.
“Further, his actions have also damaged the brand values of not only AIFF properties (competitions, national teams, etc.) but also dented the negotiation power of the AIFF with its marketing partner,” he added.
“His actions have possibly resulted in negatively impacting the investors sentiments towards football in India, and this way it is perceived that not only AIFF marketing partner lost possible sponsorship revenues but also clubs and other stakeholders have lost attracting commercial revenues.”
Demand for impartial investigation
Prabhakaran had backed Chaubey’s candidature for the presidential post when AIFF elections were conducted in September 2022.. But the AIFF sacked him after an emergency meeting on November 7 last year, citing the yet unexplained ‘breach of trust’, a decision that was ratified at its executive committee.
Following a directive by the Delhi High Court that had stayed the sacking initially, Prabhakaran was formally sacked on January 30, 2024, following a meeting of its executive committee, which the court judged only had power to remove any salaried employee of the organisation.
Prabhakaran requested the ethics committee to conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation” into these allegations as he believes they deserve to be scrutinised.
“I am confident that the committee will take appropriate action to ensure the highest ethical standards within the All India Football Federation and this would result in AIFF adopting good governance practices without any delay,” he wrote.
“It is not for the first time I am writing to bring these violations in front, on 8th July 2024 in my letter I highlighted the misdeeds and misgovernance of Mr. Kalyan Chaubey, and my expectation was that the same will be shared with the ethics committee and an impartial investigation will be initiated but to my surprise nothing like that happened.
“Therefore, seeing the current state of Indian football I am compelled to launch a formal complaint with the ethics committee of not only AIFF but also with the FIFA and AFC ethics committees.”
Prabhakaran noted that football is fast losing ground to other sports in India due to Chaubey’s misgovernance and it is painful to see credibility of the game plunge to “an all time low” and people losing faith in AIFF’s leadership.
Chaubey, who had earlier steadfastly denied all allegations, or the AIFF are yet to speak on the matter. World governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation have also not issued any statement yet.
Under Chaubey, the Indian senior men’s team failed to qualify for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers and finished at the bottom of the 24-team Asian Cup.
They also remained winless throughout 2024 to plunge to 126 in the rankings while the women’s side slipped to the 69th spot.
In a letter written to the chairperson of AIFF’s ethics committee, Shaji Prabhakaran cited multiple potential violations of its ethics code by president Kalyan Chaubey Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
