A sordid tale of the bad, worse and worst of Indian football under Kalyan Chaubey

New Delhi: By his own admission, Jaydeep Basu’s heart and mind fought a continuous battle while writing ‘Who Stole My Football – The Untold Story of AIFF 2002-25′.

After shepherding two earlier books on the positive aspects of the game in the country, it was the last thing he would have hoped for to do when he joined the AIFF as the Director of Media and Communications, even before Kalyan Chaubey became the president in September 2022.

A career sports journalist, with a particular affinity towards football, his treasure trove of experience and acquaintance among the who’s who of Indian football made him an ideal candidate for the job, which should have been utilised for the game’s betterment.

But what followed compelled Basu to put in words his harrowing experience of working at the Football House. And no matter how much he tried to resist himself, the football fraternity should be glad to get an insider’s tale into absolute misrule, which is rare to find in today’s world of carefully manufactured narratives.

Like everyone connected directly or remotely with the game, the author too had a positive feeling once Chaubey sat on the hot seat. After all, he had been a decent goalkeeper with representation at top clubs at the domestic level even though it didn’t lead to international caps.

At least, he wouldn’t need no introduction on the technical side of the game and would think of the players’ interests, the administrative part, in which he had limited experience, would be mastered in due course, it was hoped.

Political appointment an unmitigated disaster

But within the first six months of Chaubey’s tenure, it was clear in the seasoned eyes of Basu that the president had neither intention nor inclination for the game’s development.

Chaubey’s appointment was masterminded by three ministers of the Union government, and he made no effort to shed the tag of an outsider who has been put on the chair.

As he made one questionable decision after another with his rudderless executive committee in tow, often in total disregard of rules and protocol with an eye on furthering his political ambitions, and then tried to disown them by forming committees after committees, Basu shook his head in disbelief.

Being the media department’s head, Basu also had to the dirty work of putting a glossy picture of the proceedings, when deep in his heart he knew there was none and managing the president’s reputation amid a torrent of allegations surfaced, when there was nothing to defend.

“I am deeply upset and frustrated at how things are at AIFF and where things are heading to,” Basu had told yours truly numerous times in conversations over the years, even as Chaubey turned judge, jury and executioner to give himself the clean chit on several allegations of financial irregularities though complaints piled up in the ethics committee without being probed.

Disgust reached such a level that he decided to question deliberate delaying of employees appraisal process and harassment of the staff members in writing to the president, secretary general and the executive committee, fully aware that it would be used as a tool to oust him, which was done even without offering a basic explanation.

Endless muck

In his book, Basu has offered insights in most of the dubious episodes of Chaubey’s reign in fluid language, without attempting to hit below the belt despite having ample reasons and information to do so.

He could have also included the master rights agreement deadlock, the delayed infrastructure build-up at the National Centre of Excellence and the obscure presence of the FIFA-AIFF academy, in his account too.

Perhaps every detail is too embarrassing to be put on record or perhaps he has had enough of squalor to last a lifetime.

Either way, the book should be an eye-opener for players who have ambitions to turn administrators and anyone connected to sports administration as what not to do when in power.

And we should be thankful to him for offering a crash course on it when Chaubey is busy thinking of organising crash course on how to score goals!