AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey giving players-turned-administrators a bad name, says Bhaichung Bhutia
Kolkata: Despite encouragement from the All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey, his bete noir Bhaichung Bhutia is yet to confirm his presence at its executive committee meeting on July 2.
In Kolkata on Friday, Bhutia spit vitriol about Chaubey’s misgovernance at the hot seat since September 2022, in which the men’s and women’s national team rankings have nosedived.
But when asked if he would fly to Delhi to attend the Ex Co meeting at AIFF’s headquarters, Bhutia remained non-committal.
Neither was the former national team captain willing to confirm whether he would make a formal complaint to AIFF’s ethics committee against Chaubey.
“I am yet to decide whether I will attend the meeting. Yet ta take a call whether I will raise a complain to the ethics committee,” he told News9 Sports
“The official invitation for his attendance was extended by the AIFF secretariat on June 11. He is encouraged to present any constructive proposal during the meeting,” Chaubey said in an AIFF post on social media.
However, Bhutia was far more forthcoming to speak about the free fall of Indian football in the three years of Chaubey’s presidentship, pointing to the continued suspense over the I-League championship, arbitrary and dubious decisions, dodgy deals, avalanche of corruption allegations and faulty appointments.
“First time in history of AIFF, nobody knows who is the winner of I-League. It shows how bad the management is. Clubs are being unfairly treated. It is a joke. Everybody is laughing about it. The AIFF is a circus. As jokers are in power, it is bound to be a circus,” he said at a media interaction.
“I saw comments about a crash course for Indian strikers. All these Jumlebaazi (preposterous comments) should stop.”
The former striker said that when he had lost 33-1 to Chaubey for the federation’s top post, he had warned about the consequences, which those who backed him are now realising.
“I had told during the 2022 AIFF elections that Kalyan was not right for presidency. People who backed him them are now regretting,” he said.
But having lost by such an overwhelming margin against an opponent who had significant backing from the ruling party, Bhutia is once bitten twice shy about the running for the post again, if and when the Supreme Court sets a date for polls.
“Bring in someone who would be sincere at his job rather than have an eye for dodgy deals. If there is interference in elections, then I don’t think I would want to fight.
“But if people feel, I can do it, I am open to it. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be me. I assure you that it is not going to be disastrous than what it is, when some one else comes in.”
🚨 𝐀𝐈𝐅𝐅 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 🔊#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/LhnQSfSJzi
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball)
In Chaubey’s elevation to the post after endorsement, there is also a lesson for the Union government, who are keen to encourage former players to run national sports federations.
“Kalyan downgraded the AIFF president’s post. After his playing days, he was put in directly at the post despite having no prior experience of governance and management.
“Not just footballers, sportspersons as administrators are being given a bad name by Kalyan as the AIFF president. Former players like us are being viewed in poor light,” the former striker said.
Amidst all-round negativity, allowing Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) players is seen as a possible solution to improve the national team’s performance, but rather than pinning hopes on them, Chaubey should first disclose which players are in AIFF’s radar.
“Let Kalyan first reveal his list of 33 OCI players. He has suddenly woken up to OCI players after bad results,” Bhutia said, adding that he still believes India would qualify for the AFC Asian Cup despite getting only a point from the first two group matches.
For it to happen, a competent coach, home-grown or foreign, should be chosen to succeed the outing Manolo Marquez.
“I don’t mind an Indian coach to be in charge of the national team. But the technical committee has to decide. The technical committee never held a meeting before the appointment of Manolo, who shouldn’t have allowed the dual coaching role (national team and FC Goa).
“The AIFF should have taken a firm stand and negotiated with Manolo to take up only one job and discussed a future plan with him. But instead in order to save money, he was hired on a part-time basis. And look where it has gotten us,” Bhutia said.